Search

Surface ocean carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements are used to compute the oceanic air–sea CO2 flux. The CO2 flux component from rivers and estuaries is uncertain due to the high spatial and seasonal heterogeneity of CO2 in coastal waters. Existing high-quality CO2 instrumentation predominantly utilises showerhead and percolating style equilibrators optimised for open-ocean observations. The intervals between measurements made with such instrumentation make it difficult to resolve the fine-scale spatial variability of surface water CO2 at timescales relevant to the high frequency variability in estuarine and coastal environments. Here we present a novel dataset with unprecedented frequency and spatial resolution transects made at the Western Channel Observatory in the south-west of the UK from June to September 2016, using a fast-response seawater CO2 system. Novel observations were made along the estuarine–coastal continuum at different stages of the tide and reveal distinct spatial patterns in the surface water CO2 fugacity (fCO2) at different stages of the tidal cycle. Changes in salinity and fCO2 were closely correlated at all stages of the tidal cycle and suggest that the mixing of oceanic and riverine endmembers partially determines the variations in fCO2. The correlation between salinity and fCO2 was different in Cawsand Bay, which could be due to enhanced gas exchange or to enhanced biological activity in the region. The observations demonstrate the complex dynamics determining spatial and temporal patterns of salinity and fCO2 in the region. Spatial variations in observed surface salinity were used to validate the output of a regional high-resolution hydrodynamic model. The model enables a novel estimate of the air–sea CO2 flux in the estuarine–coastal zone. Air–sea CO2 flux variability in the estuarine–coastal boundary region is influenced by the state of the tide because of strong CO2 outgassing from the river plume. The observations and model output demonstrate that undersampling the complex tidal and mixing processes characteristic of estuarine and coastal environment biases quantification of air–sea CO2 fluxes in coastal waters. The results provide a mechanism to support critical national and regional policy implementation by reducing uncertainty in carbon budgets.

A key step in assessing the global carbon budget is the determination of the partial pressure of CO2 in seawater (pCO2 (sw)). Spatially complete observational fields of pCO2 (sw) are routinely produced for regional and global ocean carbon budget assessments by extrapolating sparse in situ measurements of pCO2 (sw) using satellite observations. As part of this process, satellite chlorophyll a (Chl a) is often used as a proxy for the biological drawdown or release of CO2. Chl a does not, however, quantify carbon fixed through photosynthesis and then respired, which is determined by net community production (NCP). In this study, pCO2 (sw) over the South Atlantic Ocean is estimated using a feed forward neural network (FNN) scheme and either satellite-derived NCP, net primary production (NPP) or Chl a to compare which biological proxy produces the most accurate fields of pCO2 (sw). Estimates of pCO2 (sw) using NCP, NPP or Chl a were similar, but NCP was more accurate for the Amazon Plume and upwelling regions, which were not fully reproduced when using Chl a or NPP. A perturbation analysis assessed the potential maximum reduction in pCO2 (sw) uncertainties that could be achieved by reducing the uncertainties in the satellite biological parameters. This illustrated further improvement using NCP compared to NPP or Chl a. Using NCP to estimate pCO2 (sw) showed that the South Atlantic Ocean is a CO2 source, whereas if no biological parameters are used in the FNN (following existing annual carbon assessments), this region appears to be a sink for CO2. These results highlight that using NCP improved the accuracy of estimating pCO2 (sw) and changes the South Atlantic Ocean from a CO2 sink to a source. Reducing the uncertainties in NCP derived from satellite parameters will ultimately improve our understanding and confidence in quantification of the global ocean as a CO2 sink.

In recent years, large datasets of in situ marine carbonate system parameters (partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2), total alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon and pH) have been collated, quality-controlled and made publicly available. These carbonate system datasets have highly variable data density in both space and time, especially in the case of pCO2, which is routinely measured at high frequency using underway measuring systems. This variation in data density can create biases when the data are used, for example, for algorithm assessment, favouring datasets or regions with high data density. A common way to overcome data density issues is to bin the data into cells of equal latitude and longitude extent. This leads to bins with spatial areas that are latitude- and projection-dependent (e.g. become smaller and more elongated as the poles are approached). Additionally, as bin boundaries are defined without reference to the spatial distribution of the data or to geographical features, data clusters may be divided sub-optimally (e.g. a bin covering a region with a strong gradient). To overcome these problems and to provide a tool for matching surface in situ data with satellite, model and climatological data, which often have very different spatiotemporal scales both from the in situ data and from each other, a methodology has been created to group in situ data into “regions of interest”: spatiotemporal cylinders consisting of circles on the Earth's surface extending over a period of time. These regions of interest are optimally adjusted to contain as many in situ measurements as possible. All surface in situ measurements of the same parameter contained in a region of interest are collated, including estimated uncertainties and regional summary statistics. The same grouping is applied to each of the non-in situ datasets in turn, producing a dataset of coincident matchups that are consistent in space and time. About 35 million in situ data points were matched with data from five satellite sources and five model and reanalysis datasets to produce a global matchup dataset of carbonate system data, consisting of ∼286 000 regions of interest spanning 54 years from 1957 to 2020. Each region of interest is 100 km in diameter and 10 d in duration. An example application, the reparameterisation of a global total alkalinity algorithm, is presented. This matchup dataset can be updated as and when in situ and other datasets are updated, and similar datasets at finer spatiotemporal scale can be constructed, for example, to enable regional studies. The matchup dataset provides users with a large multi-parameter carbonate system dataset containing data from different sources, in one consistent, collated and standardised format suitable for model–data intercomparisons and model evaluations. The OceanSODA-MDB data can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.12770/0dc16d62-05f6-4bbe-9dc4-6d47825a5931 (Land and Piollé, 2022).

Estuaries receive and process a large amount of particulate organic carbon (POC) prior to its export into coastal waters. Studying the origin of this POC is key to understanding the fate of POC and the role of estuaries in the global carbon cycle. Here, we evaluated the concentrations of POC, as well as particulate organic nitrogen (PON), and used stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes to assess their sources across 13 contrasting British estuaries during five different sampling campaigns over 1 year. We found a high variability in POC and PON concentrations across the salinity gradient, reflecting inputs, and losses of organic material within the estuaries. Catchment land cover appeared to influence the contribution of POC to the total organic carbon flux from the estuary to coastal waters, with POC contributions >36% in estuaries draining catchments with a high percentage of urban/suburban land, and

Human activities are changing the Arctic environment at an unprecedented rate resulting in rapid warming, freshening, sea ice retreat and ocean acidification of the Arctic Ocean. Trace gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) play important roles in both the atmospheric reactivity and radiative budget of the Arctic and thus have a high potential to influence the region’s climate. However, little is known about how these rapid physical and chemical changes will impact the emissions of major climate-relevant trace gases from the Arctic Ocean. The combined consequences of these stressors present a complex combination of environmental changes which might impact on trace gas production and their subsequent release to the Arctic atmosphere. Here we present our current understanding of nitrous oxide and methane cycling in the Arctic Ocean and its relevance for regional and global atmosphere and climate and offer our thoughts on how this might change over coming decades. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01633-8.

Mesoscale eddies are abundant in the global oceans and known to affect marine biogeochemistry. Understanding their cumulative impact on the air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) flux is likely important for quantifying the ocean carbon sink. Here, observations and Lagrangian tracking are used to estimate the air-sea CO2 flux of 67 long lived (i.e. > 1 year) mesoscale eddies in the South Atlantic Ocean over a 16 year period. We find that anticyclonic eddies originating from the Agulhas retroflection and cyclonic eddies originating from the Benguela upwelling act as net CO2 sinks over their lifetimes. In combination, the eddies significantly enhanced the CO2 sink into the South Atlantic Ocean by 0.08 ± 0.01%. Although this modification appears small, long lived eddies account for just ~0.4% of global ocean eddies and eddy activity is increasing; therefore, explicitly resolving eddy processes within all models used to assess the ocean carbon sink would appear critical.

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes from the land to ocean have been quantified for many rivers globally. However, CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere from inland waters are quantitatively significant components of the global carbon cycle that are currently poorly constrained. Understanding, the relative contributions of natural and human-impacted processes on the DIC cycle within catchments may provide a basis for developing improved management strategies to mitigate free CO2 concentrations in rivers and subsequent evasion to the atmosphere. Here, a large, internally consistent dataset collected from 41 catchments across Great Britain (GB), accounting for ∼36% of land area (∼83,997 km2) and representative of national land cover, was used to investigate catchment controls on riverine dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), bicarbonate (HCO3−) and free CO2 concentrations, fluxes to the coastal sea and annual yields per unit area of catchment. Estimated DIC flux to sea for the survey catchments was 647 kt DIC yr−1 which represented 69% of the total dissolved carbon flux from these catchments. Generally, those catchments with large proportions of carbonate and sedimentary sandstone were found to deliver greater DIC and HCO3− to the ocean. The calculated mean free CO2 yield for survey catchments (i.e. potential CO2 emission to the atmosphere) was 0.56 t C km−2 yr−1. Regression models demonstrated that whilst river DIC (R2 = 0.77) and HCO3− (R2 = 0.77) concentrations are largely explained by the geology of the landmass, along with a negative correlation to annual precipitation, free CO2 concentrations were strongly linked to catchment macronutrient status. Overall, DIC dominates dissolved C inputs to coastal waters, meaning that estuarine carbon dynamics are sensitive to underlying geology and therefore are likely to be reasonably constant. In contrast, potential losses of carbon to the atmosphere via dissolved CO2, which likely constitute a significant fraction of net terrestrial ecosystem production and hence the national carbon budget, may be amenable to greater direct management via altering patterns of land use.

Dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and carbon monoxide (CO) are climate-relevant trace gases that play key roles in the radiative budget of the Arctic atmosphere. Under global warming, Arctic sea ice retreats at an unprecedented rate, altering light penetration and biological communities, and potentially affect DMS and CO cycling in the Arctic Ocean. This could have socio-economic implications in and beyond the Arctic region. However, little is known about CO production pathways and emissions in this region and the future development of DMS and CO cycling. Here we summarize the current understanding and assess potential future changes of DMS and CO cycling in relation to changes in sea ice coverage, light penetration, bacterial and microalgal communities, pH and physical properties. We suggest that production of DMS and CO might increase with ice melting, increasing light availability and shifting phytoplankton community. Among others, policy measures should facilitate large-scale process studies, coordinated long term observations and modelling efforts to improve our current understanding of the cycling and emissions of DMS and CO in the Arctic Ocean and of global consequences.

The accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the atmosphere has been buffered by the absorption of CO2 by the global ocean, which acts as a net CO2 sink. The CO2 flux between the atmosphere and the ocean, which collectively results in the oceanic carbon sink, is spatially and temporally variable, and fully understanding the driving mechanisms behind this flux is key to assessing how the sink may change in the future. In this study a time series decomposition analysis was applied to satellite observations to determine the drivers that control the sea–air difference of CO2 partial pressure (ΔpCO2) and the CO2 flux on seasonal and inter-annual timescales in the South Atlantic Ocean. Linear trends in ΔpCO2 and the CO2 flux were calculated to identify key areas of change. Seasonally, changes in both the ΔpCO2 and CO2 flux were dominated by sea surface temperature (SST) in the subtropics (north of 40∘ S) and were correlated with biological processes in the subpolar regions (south of 40∘ S). In the equatorial Atlantic, analysis of the data indicated that biological processes are likely a key driver as a response to upwelling and riverine inputs. These results highlighted that seasonally ΔpCO2 can act as an indicator to identify drivers of the CO2 flux. Inter-annually, the SST and biological contributions to the CO2 flux in the subtropics were correlated with the multivariate El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index (MEI), which leads to a weaker (stronger) CO2 sink in El Niño (La Niña) years. The 16-year time series identified significant trends in ΔpCO2 and CO2 flux; however, these trends were not always consistent in spatial extent. Therefore, predicting the oceanic response to climate change requires the examination of CO2 flux rather than ΔpCO2. Positive CO2 flux trends (weakening sink for atmospheric CO2) were identified within the Benguela upwelling system, consistent with increased upwelling and wind speeds. Negative trends in the CO2 flux (intensifying sink for atmospheric CO2) offshore into the South Atlantic gyre were consistent with an increase in the export of nutrients from mesoscale features, which drives the biological drawdown of CO2. These multi-year trends in the CO2 flux indicate that the biological contribution to changes in the air–sea CO2 flux cannot be overlooked when scaling up to estimates of the global ocean carbon sink.

Air–sea carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) flux is often indirectly estimated by the bulk method using the air–sea difference in CO2 fugacity ( Δf CO2 ) and a parameterisation of the gas transfer velocity ( K ). Direct flux measurements by eddy covariance (EC) provide an independent reference for bulk flux estimates and are often used to study processes that drive K . However, inherent uncertainties in EC air–sea CO2 flux measurements from ships have not been well quantified and may confound analyses of K . This paper evaluates the uncertainties in EC CO2 fluxes from four cruises. Fluxes were measured with two state-of-the-art closed-path CO2 analysers on two ships. The mean bias in the EC CO2 flux is low, but the random error is relatively large over short timescales. The uncertainty (1 standard deviation) in hourly averaged EC air–sea CO2 fluxes (cruise mean) ranges from 1.4 to 3.2 mmol m - 2 d - 1 . This corresponds to a relative uncertainty of ∼ 20 % during two Arctic cruises that observed large CO2 flux magnitude. The relative uncertainty was greater ( ∼ 50 %) when the CO2 flux magnitude was small during two Atlantic cruises. Random uncertainty in the EC CO2 flux is mostly caused by sampling error. Instrument noise is relatively unimportant. Random uncertainty in EC CO2 fluxes can be reduced by averaging for longer. However, averaging for too long will result in the inclusion of more natural variability. Auto-covariance analysis of CO2 fluxes suggests that the optimal timescale for averaging EC CO2 flux measurements ranges from 1 to 3 h, which increases the mean signal-to-noise ratio of the four cruises to higher than 3. Applying an appropriate averaging timescale and suitable Δf CO2 threshold (20 µatm ) to EC flux data enables an optimal analysis of K .

Dimethyl sulfide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important for atmospheric chemistry. The emissions of biogenically derived organic gases, including dimethyl sulfide and especially isoprene, are not well constrained in the Southern Ocean. Due to a paucity of measurements, the role of the ocean in the atmospheric budgets of atmospheric methanol, acetone, and acetaldehyde is even more poorly known. In order to quantify the air–sea fluxes of these gases, we measured their seawater concentrations and air mixing ratios in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, along a ∼ 11 000 km long transect at approximately 60∘ S in February–April 2019. Concentrations, oceanic saturations, and estimated fluxes of five simultaneously sampled gases (dimethyl sulfide, isoprene, methanol, acetone, and acetaldehyde) are presented here. Campaign mean (±1σ) surface water concentrations of dimethyl sulfide, isoprene, methanol, acetone, and acetaldehyde were 2.60 (±3.94), 0.0133 (±0.0063), 67 (±35), 5.5 (±2.5), and 2.6 (±2.7) nmol dm−3 respectively. In this dataset, seawater isoprene and methanol concentrations correlated positively. Furthermore, seawater acetone, methanol, and isoprene concentrations were found to correlate negatively with the fugacity of carbon dioxide, possibly due to a common biological origin. Campaign mean (±1σ) air mixing ratios of dimethyl sulfide, isoprene, methanol, acetone, and acetaldehyde were 0.17 (±0.09), 0.053 (±0.034), 0.17 (±0.08), 0.081 (±0.031), and 0.049 (±0.040) ppbv. We observed diel changes in averaged acetaldehyde concentrations in seawater and ambient air (and to a lesser degree also for acetone and isoprene), which suggest light-driven production. Campaign mean (±1σ) fluxes of 4.3 (±7.4) µmol m−2 d−1 DMS and 0.028 (±0.021) µmol m−2 d−1 isoprene are determined where a positive flux indicates from the ocean to the atmosphere. Methanol was largely undersaturated in the surface ocean with a mean (±1σ) net flux of −2.4 (±4.7) µmol m−2 d−1, but it also had a few occasional episodes of outgassing. This section of the Southern Ocean was found to be a source and a sink for acetone and acetaldehyde this time of the year, depending on location, resulting in a mean net flux of −0.55 (±1.14) µmol m−2 d−1 for acetone and −0.28 (±1.22) µmol m−2 d−1 for acetaldehyde. The data collected here will be important for constraining the air–sea exchange, cycling, and atmospheric impact of these gases, especially over the Southern Ocean.

The flux of CO2 between the atmosphere and the ocean is often estimated as the air–sea gas concentration difference multiplied by the gas transfer velocity (K660). The first order driver for K660 over the ocean is wind through its influence on near surface hydrodynamics. However, field observations have shown substantial variability in the wind speed dependencies of K660. During a ~ 11,000 km long Southern Ocean transect, we measured K660 with the eddy covariance technique. In parallel, we made a novel measurement of the gas transfer efficiency (GTE) based on partial equilibration of CO2 using a Segmented Flow Coil Equilibrator system. GTE varied by 20% during the transect, was distinct in different water masses, and related to K660. At a moderate wind speed of 7 m s−1, K660 associated with high GTE exceeded K660 with low GTE by 30% in the mean. The sensitivity of K660 towards GTE was stronger at lower wind speeds and weaker at higher wind speeds. Naturally-occurring organics in seawater, some of which are surface active, are likely the cause of the variability in GTE and in K660. To investigate this further, we perform further laboratory experiments to assess the effects of surfactant concentration and water temperature on GTE.

The accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the atmosphere has been buffered by the global oceans absorbing CO2 and acting as a net CO2 sink. The CO2 flux between the atmosphere and the ocean, that collectively results in the oceanic carbon sink, is spatially and temporally variable, and fully understanding the driving mechanisms behind this flux is key to assessing how the sink may change in the future. In this study a time series decomposition analysis was applied to satellite observations to determine the drivers that control the sea-air difference of CO2 partial pressure (ΔpCO2) and the CO2 flux on seasonal and interannual time scales in the South Atlantic Ocean. Linear trends in ΔpCO2 and the CO2 flux were calculated to identify key areas of change. Seasonally, changes in both the ΔpCO2 and CO2 flux were dominated by sea surface temperature (SST) in the subtropics (north of 40° S) and correlated with biological processes in the subpolar regions (south of 40° S). The Equatorial Atlantic indicated that biological processes were a key driver, as a response to upwelling and riverine inputs. These results highlighted that seasonally ΔpCO2 can act as an indicator to identify drivers of the CO2 flux. Interannually, the SST and biological contributions to the CO2 flux in the subtropics were correlated with the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) leading to a weaker (stronger) CO2 sink in El Niño (La Niña) years. The 16-year time-series identified significant trends in ΔpCO2 and CO2 flux, however, these trends were not always consistent in magnitude or spatial extent. Therefore, predicting the oceanic response to climate change requires the examination of CO2 flux rather than ΔpCO2. Positive CO2 flux trends (weakening sink for atmospheric CO2) were identified within the Benguela upwelling system, consistent with increased upwelling and wind speeds. Negative trends in the CO2 flux (intensifying sink for atmospheric CO2) offshore into the South Atlantic Gyre, were consistent with an increase in the export of nutrients in mesoscale features, which drive biological drawdown of CO2. These long-term trends in the CO2 flux indicate that the biological contribution to changes in the air-sea CO2 flux cannot be overlooked when scaling up to estimates of the global ocean carbon sink.

Air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) flux is generally estimated by the bulk method using upper ocean CO2 fugacity measurements. In the summertime Arctic, sea-ice melt results in stratification within the upper ocean (top ∼10 m), which can bias bulk CO2 flux estimates when the seawater CO2 fugacity is taken from a ship's seawater inlet at ∼6 m depth (fCO2w_bulk). Direct flux measurements by eddy covariance are unaffected by near-surface stratification. We use eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements to infer sea surface CO2 fugacity (fCO2w_surface) in the Arctic Ocean. In sea-ice melt regions, fCO2w_surface values are consistently lower than fCO2w_bulk by an average of 39 μatm. Lower fCO2w_surface can be partially accounted for by fresher (≥27%) and colder (17%) melt waters. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that neglecting the summertime sea-ice melt could lead to a 6%–17% underestimate of the annual Arctic Ocean CO2 uptake.

The flux of terrigenous organic carbon through estuaries is an important and changing, yet poorly understood, component of the global carbon cycle. Using dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and fluorescence data from 13 British estuaries draining catchments with highly variable land uses, we show that land use strongly influences the fate of DOC across the land ocean transition via its influence on the composition and lability of the constituent dissolved organic matter (DOM). In estuaries draining peatland-dominated catchments, DOC was highly correlated with biologically refractory “humic-like” terrigenous material which tended to be conservatively transported along the salinity gradient. In contrast, there was a weaker correlation between DOC and DOM components within estuaries draining catchments with a high degree of human impact, that is, relatively larger percentage of arable and (sub)urban land uses. These arable and (sub)urban estuaries contain a high fraction of bioavailable “protein-like” material that behaved nonconservatively, with both DOC removals and additions occurring. In general, estuaries draining catchments with a high percentage of peatland (≥18%) have higher area-specific estuarine exports of DOC (>13 g C m−2 yr−1) compared to those estuaries draining catchments with a high percentage (≥46%) of arable and (sub)urban land uses (

A key step in assessing the global carbon budget is the determination of the partial pressure of CO2 in seawater (pCO2 (sw)). Spatially complete observational fields of pCO2 (sw) are routinely produced for regional and global ocean carbon budget assessments by extrapolating sparse in situ measurements of pCO2 (sw) using satellite observations. Within these schemes, satellite chlorophyll a (Chl a) is often used as a proxy for the biological drawdown or release of CO2. Chl a does not however quantify carbon fixed through photosynthesis and then respired, which is determined by net community production (NCP). In this study, pCO2 (sw) over the South Atlantic Ocean is estimated using a feed forward neural network (FNN) scheme and either satellite derived NCP, net primary production (NPP) or Chl a to compare which biological proxy is the most accurate. Estimates of pCO2 (sw) using NCP, NPP or Chl a were similar, but NCP was more accurate for the Amazon Plume and upwelling regions, which were not fully reproduced when using Chl a or NPP. Reducing the uncertainties in the satellite biological parameters to estimate pCO2 (sw), illustrated further improvement and greater differences for NCP compared to NPP or Chl a. Using NCP to estimate pCO2 (sw) showed that the South Atlantic Ocean is a CO2 source, whereas if no biological parameters are used in the FNN (following existing annual carbon assessments), this region becomes a sink for CO2. These results highlight that using NCP improved the accuracy of estimating pCO2 (sw), and changes the South Atlantic Ocean from a CO2 sink to a source. Reducing the uncertainties in NCP derived from satellite parameters will further improve our ability to quantify the global ocean CO2 sink.

Surface ocean CO2 measurements are used to compute the oceanic air–sea CO2 flux. The CO2 flux component from rivers and estuaries is uncertain. Estuarine and coastal water carbon dioxide (CO2) observations are relatively few compared to observations in the open ocean. The contribution of these regions to the global air–sea CO2 flux remains uncertain due to systematic under-sampling. Existing high-quality CO2 instrumentation predominantly utilise showerhead and percolating style equilibrators optimised for open ocean observations. The intervals between measurements made with such instrumentation make it difficult to resolve the fine-scale spatial variability of surface water CO2 at timescales relevant to the high frequency variability in estuarine and coastal environments. Here we present a novel dataset with unprecedented frequency and spatial resolution transects made at the Western Channel Observatory in the south west of the UK from June to September 2016, using a fast response seawater CO2 system. Novel observations were made along the estuarine–coastal continuum at different stages of the tide and reveal distinct spatial patterns in the surface water CO2 fugacity (fCO2) at different stages of the tidal cycle. Changes in salinity and fCO2 were closely correlated at all stages of the tidal cycle and suggest that the mixing of oceanic and riverine end members determines the variations in fCO2. The observations demonstrate the complex dynamics determining spatial and temporal patterns of salinity and fCO2 in the region. Spatial variations in observed surface salinity were used to validate the output of a regional high resolution hydrodynamic model. The model enables a novel estimate of the air–sea CO2 flux in the estuarine–coastal zone. Air–sea CO2 flux variability in the estuarine–coastal boundary region is dominated by the state of the tide because of strong CO2 outgassing from the river plume. The observations and model output demonstrate that undersampling the complex tidal and mixing processes characteristic of estuarine and coastal environment bias quantification of air-sea CO2 fluxes in coastal waters. The results provide a mechanism to support critical national and regional policy implementation by reducing uncertainty in carbon budgets.

The flux of CO2 between the atmosphere and the ocean is often estimated as the air–sea gas concentration difference multiplied by the gas transfer velocity (K660). The first order driver for K660 over the ocean is wind through its influence on near surface hydrodynamics. However, field observations have shown substantial variability in the wind speed dependencies of K660. In this study we measured K660 with the eddy covariance technique during a ~ 11,000 km long Southern Ocean transect. In parallel, we made a novel measurement of the gas transfer efficiency (GTE) based on partial equilibration of CO2 using a Segmented Flow Coil Equilibrator system. GTE varied by 20% during the transect, was distinct in different water masses, and related to K660. At a moderate wind speed of 7 m s−1, K660 associated with high GTE exceeded K660 with low GTE by 30% in the mean. The sensitivity of K660 towards GTE was stronger at lower wind speeds and weaker at higher wind speeds. Naturally-occurring organics in seawater, some of which are surface active, may be the cause of the variability in GTE and in K660. Neglecting these variations could result in biases in the computed air–sea CO2 fluxes.

Air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) flux is often indirectly estimated by the bulk method using the in-situ air-sea difference in CO2 fugacity and a wind speed dependent parameterisation of the gas transfer velocity (K). In the summer, sea-ice melt in the Arctic Ocean generates strong shallow stratification with significant gradients in temperature, salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and alkalinity (TA), and thus a near-surface CO2 fugacity (fCO2w) gradient. This gradient can cause an error in bulk air-sea CO2 flux estimates when the fCO2w is measured by the ship’s underway system at ~5 m depth. Direct air-sea CO2 flux measurement by eddy covariance (EC) is free from the impact of shallow stratification because the EC CO2 flux does not rely on a fCO2w measurement. In this study, we use summertime EC flux measurements from the Arctic Ocean to back-calculate the sea surface fCO2w and temperature and compare them with the underway measurements. We show that the EC air-sea CO2 flux agrees well with the bulk flux in areas less likely to be influenced by ice melt (salinity > 32). However, in regions with salinity less than 32, the underway fCO2w is higher than the EC estimate of surface fCO2w and thus the bulk estimate of ocean CO2 uptake is underestimated. The fCO2w difference can be partly explained by the surface to sub-surface temperature difference. The EC estimate of surface temperature is lower than the sub-surface water temperature and this difference is wind speed-dependent. Upper-ocean salinity gradients from CTD profiles suggest likely difference in DIC and TA concentrations between the surface and sub-surface water. These DIC and TA gradients likely explain much of the near-surface fCO2w gradient. Accelerating summertime loss of sea ice results in additional meltwater, which enhances near-surface stratification and increases the uncertainty of bulk air-sea CO2 flux estimates in polar regions.

The flux of terrigenous organic carbon across estuaries is an important and changing component of the global carbon cycle, but it is poorly understood. It has been proposed that estuaries can act either as a transporter of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the ocean or as a reactor system in which DOC can be buried or transformed into carbon dioxide and released to the atmosphere. However, there is no clear understanding of the factors that drive estuaries to behave in one way or the other. Here we present the results from a study conducted in thirteen British estuaries which drain catchments of diverse land-uses under different hydrological conditions. Our data show that land-use influences the composition of the dissolved organic matter (DOM), the mixing dynamics of DOC and the quantity of DOC exported off the estuaries. Estuaries, whose catchments are less intensively managed and represent more natural ecosystems (average proportion of arable and (sub)-urban land-use ~12 %), contain a higher proportion of biologically-refractory “humic-like” DOM, which is transported conservatively across the salinity gradient. In contrast, estuaries whose catchments are more intensively managed (average proportion of arable and (sub)-urban land-use ~32 %) contain a high fraction of “protein-like” DOM which is transported non-conservatively, and thus suggest the existence of additions and removal processes across the salinity gradient. Furthermore, estuaries with more intensively managed catchments tend to export more DOC to coastal areas than they receive from rivers. Our results indicate that future changes in land-use have the potential to alter aquatic fluxes of terrigenous DOM and the fate of the constituent carbon.

Uncertainty in the CO2 gas transfer velocity (K660) severely limits the accuracy of air-sea CO2 flux calculations and hence hinders our ability to produce realistic climate projections. Recent field observations have suggested substantial variability in K660, especially at low and high wind speeds. Laboratory experiments have shown that naturally occurring surface active organic materials, or surfactants, can suppress gas transfer. Here we provide direct open ocean evidence of gas transfer suppression due to surfactants from a ~11,000 km long research expedition by making measurements of the gas transfer efficiency (GTE) along with direct observation of K660. GTE varied by 20% during the Southern Ocean transect and was distinct in different watermasses. Furthermore GTE correlated with and can explain about 9% of the scatter in K660, suggesting that surfactants exert a measurable influence on air-sea CO2 flux. Relative gas transfer suppression due to surfactants was ~30% at a global mean wind speed of 7 m s-1 and was more important at lower wind speeds. Neglecting surfactant suppression may result in substantial spatial and temporal biases in the computed air-sea CO2 fluxes.

Air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) flux is often indirectly estimated by the bulk method using the air-sea difference in CO2 fugacity (ΔfCO2) and a parameterisation of the gas transfer velocity (K). Direct flux measurements by eddy covariance (EC) provide an independent reference for bulk flux estimates and are often used to study processes that drive K. However, inherent uncertainties in EC air-sea CO2 flux measurements from ships have not been well quantified and may confound analyses of K. This paper evaluates the uncertainties in EC CO2 fluxes from four cruises. Fluxes were measured with two state-of-the-art closed-path CO2 analysers on two ships. The mean bias in the EC CO2 flux is low but the random error is relatively large over short time scales. The uncertainty (1 standard deviation) in hourly averaged EC air-sea CO2 fluxes (cruise-mean) ranges from 1.4 to 3.2 mmol m−2 day−1. This corresponds to a relative uncertainty of ~20 % during two Arctic cruises that observed large CO2 flux magnitude. The relative uncertainty was greater (~50 %) when the CO2 flux magnitude was small during two Atlantic cruises. Random uncertainty in the EC CO2 flux is mostly caused by sampling error. Instrument noise is relatively unimportant. Random uncertainty in EC CO2 fluxes can be reduced by averaging for longer. However, averaging for too long will result in the inclusion of more natural variability. Auto-covariance analysis of CO2 fluxes suggests that the optimal timescale for averaging EC CO2 flux measurements ranges from 1–3 hours, which increases the mean signal-to-noise ratio of the four cruises to higher than 3. Applying an appropriate averaging timescale and suitable ΔfCO2 threshold (20 µatm) to EC flux data enables an optimal analysis of K.

This work evaluates the sensitivity of CO 2 air–sea gas exchange in a coastal site to four different model system configurations of the 1D coupled hydrodynamic–ecosystem model GOTM–ERSEM, towards identifying critical dynamics of relevance when specifically addressing quantification of air–sea CO 2 exchange. The European Sea Regional Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) is a biomass and functional group-based biogeochemical model that includes a comprehensive carbonate system and explicitly simulates the production of dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon and organic matter. The model was implemented at the coastal station L4 (4 nm south of Plymouth, 50°15.00’N, 4°13.02’W, depth of 51 m). The model performance was evaluated using more than 1500 hydrological and biochemical observations routinely collected at L4 through the Western Coastal Observatory activities of 2008—-2009. In addition to a reference simulation (A), we ran three distinct experiments to investigate the sensitivity of the carbonate system and modeled air–sea fluxes to (B) the sea-surface temperature (SST) diurnal cycle and thus also the near-surface vertical gradients, (C) biological suppression of gas exchange and (D) data assimilation using satellite Earth observation data. The reference simulation captures well the physical environment (simulated SST has a correlation with observations equal to 0.94 with a p> 0.95). Overall, the model captures the seasonal signal in most biogeochemical variables including the air–sea flux of CO 2 and primary production and can capture some of the intra-seasonal variability and short-lived blooms. The model correctly reproduces the seasonality of nutrients (correlation > 0.80 for silicate, nitrate and phosphate), surface chlorophyll-a (correlation > 0.43) and total biomass (correlation > 0.7) in a two year run for 2008–2009. The model simulates well the concentration of DIC, pH and in-water partial pressure of CO 2 (pCO 2 ) with correlations between 0.4–0.5. The model result suggest that L4 is a weak net source of CO 2 (0.3–1.8 molCm − 2 year − 1 ). The results of the three sensitivity experiments indicate that both resolving the temperature profile near the surface and assimilation of surface chlorophyll-a significantly impact the skill of simulating the biogeochemistry at L4 and all of the carbonate chemistry related variables. These results indicate that our forecasting ability of CO 2 air–sea flux in shelf seas environments and their impact in climate modeling should consider both model refinements as means of reducing uncertainties and errors in any future climate projections.

A comprehensive in situ dataset of chlorophyll a (Chl a; N = 18,001), net primary production (NPP; N = 165) and net community production (NCP; N = 95), were used to evaluate the performance of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on Aqua (MODIS-A) algorithms for these parameters, in the South Atlantic Ocean, to facilitate the accurate generation of satellite NCP time series. For Chl a, five algorithms were tested using MODIS-A data, and OC3-CI performed best, which was subsequently used to compute NPP. Of three NPP algorithms tested, a Wavelength Resolved Model (WRM) was the most accurate, and was therefore used to estimate NCP with an empirical relationship between NCP with NPP and sea surface temperature (SST). A perturbation analysis was deployed to quantify the range of uncertainties introduced in satellite NCP from input parameters. The largest reductions in the uncertainty of satellite NCP came from MODIS-A derived NPP using the WRM (40%) and MODIS-A Chl a using OC3-CI (22%). The most accurate NCP algorithm, was used to generate a 16 year time series (2002 to 2018) from MODIS-A to assess climate and environmental drivers of NCP across the South Atlantic basin. Positive correlations between wind speed anomalies and NCP anomalies were observed in the central South Atlantic Gyre (SATL), and the Benguela Upwelling (BENG), indicating that autotrophic conditions may be fuelled by local wind-induced nutrient inputs to the mixed layer. Sea Level Height Anomalies (SLHA), used as an indicator of mesoscale eddies, were negatively correlated with NCP anomalies offshore of the BENG upwelling fronts into the SATL, suggesting autotrophic conditions are driven by mesoscale features. The Agulhas bank and Brazil-Malvinas confluence regions also had a strong negative correlation between SLHA and NCP anomalies, similarly indicating that NCP is forced by mesoscale eddy generation in this region. Positive correlations between SST anomalies and the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) in the SATL, indicated the influence of El Niño events on the South Atlantic Ocean, however the plankton community response was less clear. UK Natural Environment Research Council | Ref. NERC; NE / L002434 / 1 European Space Agency | Ref. AMT4SentinelFRM (ESRIN / RFQ / 3-14457 / 16 / I-BG) European Space Agency | Ref. AMT4OceanSatFlux (4000125730/18 / NL / FF / gp) NERC International Opportunity Fund Grant Satellite estimates of marine net community production in the South Atlantic from Sentinel-3 | Ref. SemSAS; NE / P00878X / 1 P&D ANP / BRASOIL | Ref. 48610.011013 / 2014-66 Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo | Ref. FAPESP 2015 / 01373-0 Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo | Ref. CNPq 442926 / 2015-4 Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo | Ref. FAPESP 2014 / 50820-7 Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo | Ref. CNPq 565060 / 2010-4 NERC | Ref. NE / R015953 / 1

Results from a 1D setup of the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) biogeochemical model were compared with new observations collected under the UK Shelf Seas Biogeochemistry (SSB) programme to assess model performance and clarify elements of shelf-sea benthic biogeochemistry and carbon cycling. Observations from two contrasting sites (muddy and sandy) in the Celtic Sea in otherwise comparable hydrographic conditions were considered, with the focus on the benthic system. A standard model parameterisation with site-specific light and nutrient adjustments was used, along with modifications to the within-seabed diffusivity to accommodate the modelling of permeable (sandy) sediments. Differences between modelled and observed quantities of organic carbon in the bed were interpreted to suggest that a large part (>90%) of the observed benthic organic carbon is biologically relatively inactive. Evidence on the rate at which this inactive fraction is produced will constitute important information to quantify offshore carbon sequestration. Total oxygen uptake and oxic layer depths were within the range of the measured values. Modelled depth average pore water concentrations of ammonium, phosphate and silicate were typically 5–20% of observed values at the muddy site due to an underestimate of concentrations associated with the deeper sediment layers. Model agreement for these nutrients was better at the sandy site, which had lower pore water concentrations, especially deeper in the sediment. Comparison of pore water nitrate with observations had added uncertainty, as the results from process studies at the sites indicated the dominance of the anammox pathway for nitrogen removal; a pathway that is not included in the model. Macrofaunal biomasses were overestimated, although a model run with increased macrofaunal background mortality rates decreased macrofaunal biomass and improved agreement with observations. The decrease in macrofaunal biomass was compensated by an increase in meiofaunal biomass such that total oxygen demand remained within the observed range. The permeable sediment modification reproduced some of the observed behaviour of oxygen penetration depth at the sandy site. It is suggested that future development in ERSEM benthic modelling should focus on: (1) mixing and degradation rates of benthic organic matter, (2) validation of benthic faunal biomass against large scale spatial datasets, (3) incorporation of anammox in the benthic nitrogen cycle, and (4) further developments to represent permeable sediment processes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10533-017-0367-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

We undertook a seasonal study of benthic N-cycling on the Celtic Sea continental shelf in 2015, augmented by an earlier cruise in 2014. Two cruises in 2015 were centred before and after the Spring phytoplankton bloom and a further cruise was carried out in late summer. Five sites covering the mud to sand continuum were visited on all cruises, where we determined ammonium-oxidation, anammox and denitrification rates, expression of anammox and denitrification genes, N-nutrient fluxes and sediment porewater profiles of N-nutrients. Highest process rates were found during the post-bloom and late summer periods. The Celtic Sea was overwhelmingly a source of inorganic-N to the overlying water column. The efflux of nitrate was controlled by the magnitude of ammonium-oxidation. The latter accounted for 10–16% of total Oxygen consumption in cohesive sediments and 35–56% in sandy sediments. Ammonium oxidation rates in the range of 0.001–2.288 mmol m−2 days−1 were inversely correlated with sediment porosity and positively correlated with organic matter content (OM) which together explained 66% of the variance in rates. N-removal was dominated by anammox (0.003–0.636 mmol m−2 days−1), rather than denitrification (0.000–0.034 mmol m−2 days−1). This finding was supported by the corresponding gene expression data. The expression of hydrazine oxidoreductase (anammox) was significantly correlated with anammox and total N-removal rates. Anammox was positively correlated with porosity and OM, whilst denitrification was correlated with OM. The N-requirement of these processes was largely met through nitrification (ammonium-oxidation) rather than influx from the overlying water column. We estimated that N-removal via denitrification and anammox removed 6–9% of the organic-N deposited at the sea-floor from the overlying water column. The Celtic Sea system was thereby losing N which must be replenished on an annual basis in order to sustain productivity.

Shelf seas play an important role in the global carbon cycle, absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and exporting carbon (C) to the open ocean and sediments. The magnitude of these processes is poorly constrained, because observations are typically interpolated over multiple years. Here, we used 298500 observations of CO2 fugacity (fCO2) from a single year (2015), to estimate the net influx of atmospheric CO2 as 26.2 ± 4.7 Tg C yr−1 over the open NW European shelf. CO2 influx from the atmosphere was dominated by influx during winter as a consequence of high winds, despite a smaller, thermally-driven, air-sea fCO2 gradient compared to the larger, biologically-driven summer gradient. In order to understand this climate regulation service, we constructed a carbon-budget supplemented by data from the literature, where the NW European shelf is treated as a box with carbon entering and leaving the box. This budget showed that net C-burial was a small sink of 1.3 ± 3.1 Tg C yr−1, while CO2 efflux from estuaries to the atmosphere, removed the majority of river C-inputs. In contrast, the input from the Baltic Sea likely contributes to net export via the continental shelf pump and advection (34.4 ± 6.0 Tg C yr−1).

The transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM) across the land-ocean-aquatic-continuum (LOAC), from freshwater to the ocean, is an important yet poorly understood component of the global carbon budget. Exploring and quantifying this flux is a significant challenge given the complexities of DOM cycling across these contrasting environments. We developed a new model, UniDOM, that unifies concepts, state variables and parameterisations of DOM turnover across the LOAC. Terrigenous DOM is divided into two pools, T1 (strongly-UV-absorbing) and T2 (non- or weakly-UV-absorbing), that exhibit contrasting responses to microbial consumption, photooxidation and flocculation. Data are presented to show that these pools are amenable to routine measurement based on specific UV absorbance (SUVA). In addition, an autochtonous DOM pool is defined to account for aquatic DOM production. A novel aspect of UniDOM is that rates of photooxidation and microbial turnover are parameterised as an inverse function of DOM age. Model results, which indicate that ~ 5% of the DOM originating in streams may penetrate into the open ocean, are sensitive to this parameterisation, as well as rates assigned to turnover of freshly-produced DOM. The predicted contribution of flocculation to DOM turnover is remarkably low, although a mechanistic representation of this process in UniDOM was considered unachievable because of the complexities involved. Our work highlights the need for ongoing research into the mechanistic understanding and rates of photooxidation, microbial consumption and flocculation of DOM across the different environments of the LOAC, along with the development of models based on unified concepts and parameterisations.

Shelf seas play an important role in the global carbon cycle, absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and exporting carbon (C) to the open ocean and sediments. The magnitude of these processes is poorly constrained, because observations are typically interpolated over multiple years. Here, we used 298500 observations of CO2 fugacity (fCO2) from a single year (2015), to estimate the net influx of atmospheric CO2 as 26.2 ± 4.7 Tg C yr−1 over the open NW European shelf. CO2 influx from the atmosphere was dominated by influx during winter as a consequence of high winds, despite a smaller, thermally-driven, air-sea fCO2 gradient compared to the larger, biologically-driven summer gradient. In order to understand this climate regulation service, we constructed a carbon-budget supplemented by data from the literature, where the NW European shelf is treated as a box with carbon entering and leaving the box. This budget showed that net C-burial was a small sink of 1.3 ± 3.1 Tg C yr−1, while CO2 efflux from estuaries to the atmosphere, removed the majority of river C-inputs. In contrast, the input from the Baltic Sea likely contributes to net export via the continental shelf pump and advection (34.4 ± 6.0 Tg C yr−1).

The Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) is a synthesis of quality-controlled fCO2 (fugacity of carbon dioxide) values for the global surface oceans and coastal seas with regular updates. Version 3 of SOCAT has 14.7 million fCO2 values from 3646 data sets covering the years 1957 to 2014. This latest version has an additional 4.6 million fCO2 values relative to version 2 and extends the record from 2011 to 2014. Version 3 also significantly increases the data availability for 2005 to 2013. SOCAT has an average of approximately 1.2 million surface water fCO2 values per year for the years 2006 to 2012. Quality and documentation of the data has improved. A new feature is the data set quality control (QC) flag of E for data from alternative sensors and platforms. The accuracy of surface water fCO2 has been defined for all data set QC flags. Automated range checking has been carried out for all data sets during their upload into SOCAT. The upgrade of the interactive Data Set Viewer (previously known as the Cruise Data Viewer) allows better interrogation of the SOCAT data collection and rapid creation of high-quality figures for scientific presentations. Automated data upload has been launched for version 4 and will enable more frequent SOCAT releases in the future. High-profile scientific applications of SOCAT include quantification of the ocean sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and its long-term variation, detection of ocean acidification, as well as evaluation of coupled-climate and ocean-only biogeochemical models. Users of SOCAT data products are urged to acknowledge the contribution of data providers, as stated in the SOCAT Fair Data Use Statement. This ESSD (Earth System Science Data) "living data" publication documents the methods and data sets used for the assembly of this new version of the SOCAT data collection and compares these with those used for earlier versions of the data collection (Pfeil et al., 2013; Sabine et al., 2013; Bakker et al., 2014). Individual data set files, included in the synthesis product, can be downloaded here: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.849770. The gridded products are available here: doi:10.3334/CDIAC/OTG.SOCAT_V3_GRID.

We present air–sea fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), momentum, and sensible heat measured by the eddy covariance method from the recently established Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory (PPAO) on the south-west coast of the United Kingdom. Measurements from the south-westerly direction (open water sector) were made at three different sampling heights (approximately 15, 18, and 27 m above mean sea level, a.m.s.l.), each from a different period during 2014–2015. At sampling heights ≥ 18 m a.m.s.l., measured fluxes of momentum and sensible heat demonstrate reasonable ( ≤ ±20 % in the mean) agreement with transfer rates over the open ocean. This confirms the suitability of PPAO for air–sea exchange measurements in shelf regions. Covariance air–sea CO2 fluxes demonstrate high temporal variability. Air-to-sea transport of CO2 declined from spring to summer in both years, coinciding with the breakdown of the spring phytoplankton bloom. We report, to the best of our knowledge, the first successful eddy covariance measurements of CH4 emissions from a marine environment. Higher sea-to-air CH4 fluxes were observed during rising tides (20 ± 3; 38 ± 3; 29 ± 6 µmole m−2 d−1 at 15, 18, 27 m a.m.s.l.) than during falling tides (14 ± 2; 22 ± 2; 21 ± 5 µmole m−2 d−1), consistent with an elevated CH4 source from an estuarine outflow driven by local tidal circulation. These fluxes are a few times higher than the predicted CH4 emissions over the open ocean and are significantly lower than estimates from other aquatic CH4 hotspots (e.g. polar regions, freshwater). Finally, we found the detection limit of the air–sea CH4 flux by eddy covariance to be 20 µmole m−2 d−1 over hourly timescales (4 µmole m−2 d−1 over 24 h).

Air-water CH4 and CO2 fluxes were directly measured using the eddy covariance technique at the Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory on the southwest coast of the United Kingdom from September 2015 to August 2016. The high frequency, year-long measurements provide unprecedented detail into the variability of these Greenhouse Gas fluxes from seasonal to diurnal and to semi-diurnal timescales. Depending on the wind sector, fluxes measured at this site are indicative of air-water exchange in coastal seas as well as in an outer estuary. For the open water sector when winds were off the Atlantic Ocean, annual CH4 emission averaged ~ 0.05 mmol m−2 d−1. Open water CH4 flux was near zero in December and January, probably due to reduced biological production of CH4. At times of high rainfall and river flow rate, CH4 emission from the estuarine-influenced Plymouth Sound sector was several times higher than emission from the open water sector. The implied CH4 saturation, derived from the measured fluxes and a wind speed dependent gas transfer velocity parameterization, of over 1000 % in the Plymouth Sound is within range of in situ dissolved CH4 measurements near the mouth of the river Tamar. CO2 flux from the open water sector was generally from sea-to-air in autumn and winter and from air-to-sea in late spring and summer, with an annual mean flux of near zero. CO2 flux from the Plymouth Sound sector was more positive, consistent with a higher dissolved CO2 concentration in the estuarine waters. A diurnal signal in CO2 flux and implied dissolved pCO2 are clearly observed for the Plymouth Sound sector and also evident for the open water sector during biologically productive periods. These observations suggest that coastal CO2 efflux may be underestimated if the sampling strategy is limited to daytime only. Combining the fluxes with in situ dissolved pCO2 measurements within the flux footprints allows us to estimate the CO2 transfer velocity. The gas transfer velocity vs. wind speed relationship at this coastal location agrees reasonably well with previous open water parameterizations in the mean, but demonstrates considerable variability. We discuss the influences of biological productivity and bottom-driven turbulence on coastal air-water gas exchange.

In 2014–5 the UK NERC sponsored an 18 month long Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry research programme which collected over 1500 nutrient and carbonate system samples across the NW European Continental shelf, one of the largest continental shelves on the planet. This involved the cooperation of 10 different Institutes and Universities, using 6 different vessels. Additional carbon dioxide (CO2) data were obtained from the underway systems on three of the research vessels. Here, we present and discuss these data across 9 ecohydrodynamic regions, adapted from those used by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). We observed strong seasonal and regional variability in carbonate chemistry around the shelf in relation to nutrient biogeochemistry. Whilst salinity increased (and alkalinity decreased) out from the near-shore coastal waters offshore throughout the year nutrient concentrations varied with season. Spatial and seasonal variations in the ratio of DIC to nitrate concentration were seen that could impact carbon cycling. A decrease in nutrient concentrations and a pronounced under-saturation of surface pCO2 was evident in the spring in most regions, especially in the Celtic Sea. This decrease was less pronounced in Liverpool Bay and to the North of Scotland, where nutrient concentrations remained measurable throughout the year. The near-shore and relatively shallow ecosystems such as the eastern English Channel and southern North Sea were associated with a thermally driven increase in pCO2 to above atmospheric levels in summer and an associated decrease in pH. Non-thermal processes (such as mixing and the remineralisation of organic material) dominated in winter in most regions but especially in the northwest of Scotland and in Liverpool Bay. The large database collected will improve understanding of carbonate chemistry over the North-Western European Shelf in relation to nutrient biogeochemistry, particularly in the context of climate change and ocean acidification.

There is ongoing debate as to whether the oligotrophic ocean is predominantly net autotrophic and acts as a CO2 sink, or net heterotrophic and therefore acts as a CO2 source to the atmosphere. This quantification is challenging, both spatially and temporally, due to the sparseness of measurements. There has been a concerted effort to derive accurate estimates of phytoplankton photosynthesis and primary production from satellite data to fill these gaps; however there have been few satellite estimates of net community production (NCP). In this paper, we compare a number of empirical approaches to estimate NCP from satellite data with in vitro measurements of changes in dissolved O2 concentration at 295 stations in the N and S Atlantic Ocean (including the Antarctic), Greenland and Mediterranean Seas. Algorithms based on power laws between NCP and particulate organic carbon production (POC) derived from 14C uptake tend to overestimate NCP at negative values and underestimate at positive values. An algorithm that includes sea surface temperature (SST) in the power function of NCP and 14C POC has the lowest bias and root-mean square error compared with in vitro measured NCP and is the most accurate algorithm for the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly a 13 year time series of NCP was generated using this algorithm with SeaWiFS data to assess changes over time in different regions and in relation to climate variability. The North Atlantic subtropical and tropical Gyres (NATL) were predominantly net autotrophic from 1998 to 2010 except for boreal autumn/winter, suggesting that the northern hemisphere has remained a net sink for CO2 during this period. The South Atlantic sub-tropical Gyre (SATL) fluctuated from being net autotrophic in austral spring-summer, to net heterotrophic in austral autumn–winter. Recent decadal trends suggest that the SATL is becoming more of a CO2 source. Over the Atlantic basin, the percentage of satellite pixels with negative NCP was 27%, with the largest contributions from the NATL and SATL during boreal and austral autumn–winter, respectively. Variations in NCP in the northern and southern hemispheres were correlated with climate indices. Negative correlations between NCP and the multivariate ENSO index (MEI) occurred in the SATL, which explained up to 60% of the variability in NCP. Similarly there was a negative correlation between NCP and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the Southern Sub-Tropical Convergence Zone (SSTC), which explained 90% of the variability. There were also positive correlations with NAO in the Canary Current Coastal Upwelling (CNRY) and Western Tropical Atlantic (WTRA) which explained 80% and 60% of the variability in each province, respectively. MEI and NAO seem to play a role in modifying phases of net autotrophy and heterotrophy in the Atlantic Ocean.

Ocean acidification, the result of increased dissolution of carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, is a leading subject of current research. The effects of acidification on non-calcifying macroalgae are, however, still unclear. The current study reports two 1-month studies using two different macroalgae, the red alga Palmaria palmata (Rhodophyta) and the kelp Saccharina latissima (Phaeophyta), exposed to control (pHNBS = ∼8.04) and increased (pHNBS = ∼7.82) levels of CO2-induced seawater acidification. The impacts of both increased acidification and time of exposure on net primary production (NPP), respiration (R), dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations, and algal growth have been assessed. In P. palmata, although NPP significantly increased during the testing period, it significantly decreased with acidification, whereas R showed a significant decrease with acidification only. S. latissima significantly increased NPP with acidification but not with time, and significantly increased R with both acidification and time, suggesting a concomitant increase in gross primary production. The DMSP concentrations of both species remained unchanged by either acidification or through time during the experimental period. In contrast, algal growth differed markedly between the two experiments, in that P. palmata showed very little growth throughout the experiment, while S. latissima showed substantial growth during the course of the study, with the latter showing a significant difference between the acidified and control treatments. These two experiments suggest that the study species used here were resistant to a short-term exposure to ocean acidification, with some of the differences seen between species possibly linked to different nutrient concentrations between the experiments.