Journal article
Mechanisms controlling the air–sea CO2 flux in the North Sea
Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4J11
IFM-GEOMAR, Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany2
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Landsdiep 4, 1797 SZ ’t Horntje, The Netherlands3
Institute of Oceanography, University of Hamburg, Bundesstr. 53, 20146 Hamburg, Germany4
Station Biologique de Roscoff, CNRS et UPMC Univ. Paris 06, UMR 7144 - Chimie Marine, Place Georges Teissier, BP74, 29682 Roscoff, France5
Chemical Oceanography Unit, University of Liège, Allée du 6 Août, 17, 4000 Liège, Belgium6
The mechanisms driving the air–sea exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the North Sea are investigated using the three-dimensional coupled physical–biogeochemical model ECOHAM (ECOlogical-model, HAMburg). We validate our simulations using field data for the years 2001–2002 and identify the controls of the air–sea CO2 flux for two locations representative for the North Sea's biogeochemical provinces.
In the seasonally stratified northern region, net CO2 uptake is high (2.06molm-2a-1) due to high net community production (NCP) in the surface water. Overflow production releasing semi-labile dissolved organic carbon needs to be considered for a realistic simulation of the low dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations observed during summer.
This biologically driven carbon drawdown outcompetes the temperature-driven rise in CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) during the productive season. In contrast, the permanently mixed southern region is a weak net CO2 source (0.78molm-2a-1). NCP is generally low except for the spring bloom because remineralization parallels primary production.
Here, the pCO2 appears to be controlled by temperature.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Year: | 2009 |
Pages: | 1801-1808 |
ISSN: | 18736955 and 02784343 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.csr.2009.06.003 |