Jamie D. Shutler, Daniel J. Ford, Thomas Holding, Clement Ubelmann, Lucile Gaultier, Fabrice Collard, Bertrand Chapron, Marie-Helene Rio, Callum Roberts, Craig Donlon
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Continental shelf surface waters are considered a variable but increasing sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), but the mechanisms controlling these increasing sinks are unclear. We identify that the winter wind-driven surface atmosphere-ocean CO2 gas exchange and wind-driven movement of water onto (or off of) shelf seas are consistent with the atmospheric CO2 uptake tendency of many shelf seas. A 20-year observational-based analysis shows that geostrophic, wind and wave driven currents all contribute to the surface shelf break water velocities, but the dominance of each is location and season dependent. Analyzing these flows for fourteen shelf-seas based on their 20-year long-term gradient in air-sea partial pressure of carbon dioxide (their atmospheric CO2 uptake tendency) identifies significant relationships between uptake tendency and winter (r2 = 0.72 ± 0.03, p < 0.01, n = 14) and autumn (r2 = 0.57 ± 0.05, p < 0.01, n = 14) wind-driven surface flows. These signals are most strong in winter, but the results are consistent at annual scales. Including the wintertime wind-driven air-sea CO2 gas exchange further enhances this result, and collectively they describe 82% of the variance in the atmospheric CO2 uptake tendency data (r2 = 0.82 ± 0.06, p < 0.01, n = 14). These findings identify that long-term wind-driven water flow and surface gas exchange are key mechanisms for controlling their chemical evolution and their status as CO2 sinks. This observational-based evidence highlights the need for these wind-driven processes to be resolved within methods used to predict or understand continental shelf-sea carbonate system state and ocean health.
期刊介绍:
Global Biogeochemical Cycles (GBC) features research on regional to global biogeochemical interactions, as well as more local studies that demonstrate fundamental implications for biogeochemical processing at regional or global scales. Published papers draw on a wide array of methods and knowledge and extend in time from the deep geologic past to recent historical and potential future interactions. This broad scope includes studies that elucidate human activities as interactive components of biogeochemical cycles and physical Earth Systems including climate. Authors are required to make their work accessible to a broad interdisciplinary range of scientists.