Search

The meridional transport of anthropogenic CO2 (Cant) in the tropical North Atlantic (TNA) is investigated using data from transoceanic sections along 7.5°N and 24.5°N, carried out in the early 1990s and 2010s. The net Cant transport across both sections is northward. At 7.5°N, this transport increased from 315 ± 47 kmol s−1 in 1993 to 493 ± 51 kmol s−1 in 2010; similarly, across 24.5°N it grew from 530 ± 46 kmol s−1 in 1992 to 662 ± 49 kmol s−1 in 2011. These changes result from modifications in the intermediate and deep circulation patterns, as well as from Cant increase within the thermocline waters. In deep waters, lateral advection causes a net Cant input of 112 ± 60 kmol s−1 (234 ± 65 kmol s−1) in 1992–1993 (2010–2011); within these deep waters, the storage rate of Cant is not statistically different from the net Cant input, 139 ± 21 kmol s−1 (188 ± 21 kmol s−1) in 1992–1993 (2010–2011). The Cant increase in deep waters is due to the large injection of Cant across the 24.5°N by the Deep Western Boundary Current and the northward recirculation of North Atlantic Deep Water along 7.5°N. In contrast, a large net Cant output in the upper layer is caused by the Florida Current. Despite this net Cant output, the Cant accumulates at a rate of 215 ± 24 kmol s−1 (291 ± 24 kmol s−1) referenced to year 1993 (2010). From the two Cant budgets, we infer a Cant air-sea flux of 0.23 ± 0.02 Pg yr−1in the TNA, much larger than previous estimates.

9 páginas, 5 figuras, 2 tablas.-- Proyecto Carbochange, The Mediterranean Sea shows a peculiar anomaly in its nutrient pattern compared to the global ocean, as there is decrease in nutrient concentration from west to east. This feature has been attributed to the antiestuarine circulation at the Strait of Gibraltar, where an eastward flow of Atlantic nutrient-poor surface waters is compensated by a westward countercurrent of Mediterranean nutrient-rich deep waters. This water exchange has been suggested as the ultimate cause for the oligotrophy of the Mediterranean basin, even though only a few studies have accurately examined the magnitude of the nutrient flux through the Strait of Gibraltar. In this work, data from the Gibraltar Fixed Time series (GIFT) between 2005 and 2008 were used to assess nutrient distributions. Applying a two-layer model of water mass exchange and using the Mediterranean outflow recorded in situ, the net export of nutrients from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic was calculated as 139 and 4.8 Gmol yr−1 of nitrate and phosphate, respectively. The results also demonstrated that the Atlantic inflow is not nutrient depleted and in particular contains significant levels of phosphate, which is the limiting factor for biological productivity in the eastern Mediterranean. The distribution of the quasi-conservative parameter N* in the western and eastern basins indicated that nitrate-deficient surface waters are transformed into phosphate-deficient bottom waters by internal cycling processes. Therefore, phosphate depletion in the Mediterranean does not have its origin in the entry of a phosphorus-impoverished Atlantic inflow through the Strait of Gibraltar., Funding for this work was provided by the European Commission through the projects CARBOOCEAN (511176GOCE), SESAME (036949GOCE), CARBOCHANGE (FP7-264879), and PERSEUS (FP7-287600) and by the Spanish Ministry Sciences and Innovation (CTM2006-26206-E/MAR, CTM2006-27116-E, CTM2006-28141-E/MAR, REN2003-01816/MAR, CTM2006-02326/MAR, CTM2009-05810/E, and CTM2010-21229-C02-01/MAR).

[1] Transports of Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC), Total Alkalinity (TA) and Anthropogenic Carbon (CANT) are calculated across a densely sampled World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) section at the southern boundary of the subpolar North Atlantic (WOCE A25, 4x cruise). The circulation pattern was approximated using an inverse model constrained with measured mass transports at specific sites, while conserving the mass and salt transports, and forcing the silicate flux to equal the river input north of the section. The mass and chemical fluxes are decomposed into their barotropic, baroclinic and horizontal components. The TA transport is negligible (transport ± maximum estimate of uncertainty, −135 ± 507 kmol s−1), while TIC is transported southwards (−1015 ± 490 kmol s−1) and CANT northwards (116 ± 125 kmol s−1). Combining our results with those from Roson et al. [2002] across 24.5°N (WOCE A5) we examine the contemporary and preindustrial TIC budgets in the subpolar and temperate North Atlantic based on two different approximations for the budget definitions. Initially, river input, biological production of TIC, along with sedimentation of calcium carbonate are ignored. Then, extended contemporary and preindustrial TIC budgets are discussed including rough estimates of the former processes, mainly based on values from the literature. Our findings point to the North Atlantic Ocean north of 24.5°N as a strong sink for atmospheric CO2 both today (2932 ± 2057 kmol s−1) and preindustrially (2439 ± 1721 kmol s−1). Only 17% of the contemporary CO2 air-sea uptake corresponds to CANT, which is mainly taken up in the temperate North Atlantic (between the 4x and 24.5°N sections). North of 24.5°N the Atlantic Ocean stores CANT at a rate of 1123 ± 200 kmol s−1. This CANT is mainly advected into the area in the upper limb of the overturning circulation, while 44% is directly introduced by air-sea uptake.