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Extensive CO 2 emissions from shallow coastal waters during passage of Hurricane Irene (August 2011) over the Mid‐Atlantic Coast of the U.S.A
Author(s) -
Crosswell Joseph R.,
Wetz Michael S.,
Hales Burke,
Paerl Hans W.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.2014.59.5.1651
Subject(s) - biogeochemical cycle , estuary , environmental science , oceanography , sink (geography) , ecosystem , storm , biogeochemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , ecology , geography , geotechnical engineering , biology , cartography
Shallow coastal waters serve an important role as long‐term carbon (C) sinks because they capture terrestrial C and retain internally produced C in wetlands and sediments. We show that tropical cyclones (TCs) can lead to rapid CO 2 efflux from estuaries, driven by physical and biogeochemical perturbation of these coastal C reservoirs, and that the magnitude of TC‐driven CO 2 emissions may offset C that accumulates over much longer timescales. In August 2011, Hurricane Irene passed over North Carolina's Neuse River Estuary—Pamlico Sound (NRE‐PS), which is part of the second largest estuarine system in the U.S., the Albemarle—Pamlico Sound. Irene rapidly changed the NRE‐PS system from a small CO 2 sink to a large CO 2 source. Irene‐induced CO 2 efflux from the NRE alone was at least four times the annual riverine C input and seven times the annual atmospheric CO 2 uptake. The magnitude and duration of ecosystem disturbance from TCs vary with storm intensity and frequency but likely are qualitatively similar across many terrestrial and coastal systems. Consequently, altered TC activity under future climate scenarios may shift the balance between C accumulation in, and release from, coastal C reservoirs.