Controls on Open-Ocean North Atlantic Δp CO2 at Seasonal and Interannual Time Scales Are Different

Henson, SA, Humphreys, MP, Land, PE, Shutler, JD, Goddijn-Murphy, L and Warren, M 2018 Controls on Open-Ocean North Atlantic Δp CO2 at Seasonal and Interannual Time Scales Are Different. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078797

Preview

Text 2018GL078797.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (867kB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

The North Atlantic is a substantial sink for anthropogenic CO2. Understanding the mechanisms driving the sink's variability is key to assessing its current state and predicting its potential response to global climate change. Here we apply a time series decomposition technique to satellite and in situ data to examine separately the factors (both biological and nonbiological) that affect the sea‐air CO2 difference (ΔpCO2) on seasonal and interannual time scales. We demonstrate that on seasonal time scales, the subpolar North Atlantic ΔpCO2 signal is predominantly correlated with biological processes, whereas seawater temperature dominates in the subtropics. However, the same factors do not necessarily control ΔpCO2 on interannual time scales. Our results imply that the mechanisms driving seasonal variability in ΔpCO2 cannot necessarily be extrapolated to predict how ΔpCO2, and thus the North Atlantic CO2 sink, may respond to increases in anthropogenic CO2 over longer time scales.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Divisions:	Plymouth Marine Laboratory > National Capability categories > NERC Earth Observation Data Acquisition & Analysis Service (NEODAAS) Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Earth Observation Science and Applications Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Marine Biochemistry and Observations
Depositing User:	Kim Hockley
Date made live:	26 Sep 2018 10:16
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 09:59
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/8000

Actions (login required)

View Item