| Title | Annual balance and seasonal variability of sea-air CO2 fluxes in the Patagonia Sea; their relationship with fronts and chlorophyll distribution |
| Author | Bianchi, A.A.; Pino, D.R.; Perlender, H.G.I.; Osiroff, A.P.; Segura, V.; Lutz, V.; Clara, M.L.; Balestrini, C.F.; Piola, A.R. |
| Author Affil | Bianchi, A.A., Servicio de Hidrografía Naval, Departamento Oceanografía, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Other: Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France; Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina |
| Source | Journal of Geophysical Research, 114(C3), Citation C03018. Publisher: American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, United States. ISSN: 0148-0227 |
| Publication Date | 2009 |
| Notes | In English. 58 refs. Ant. Acc. No: 87331. GeoRef Acc. No: 296649 |
| Index Terms | chlorophylls; geochemical cycles; mass balance; measurement; ocean currents; Argentina; Drake Passage; South America-- Patagonia; Atlantic Ocean--Southwest Atlantic; South America--Tierra del Fuego; air-sea interface; Atlantic Ocean; atmosphere; carbon; carbon cycle; carbon dioxide; carbon sequestration; chlorophyll; concentration; continental shelf; continental slope; currents; equilibrium; geochemical cycle; ocean circulation; organic compounds; Patagonia; Patagonia Sea; pigments; sea water; seasonal variations; sinks; South America; South Atlantic; Southwest Atlantic; Tierra del Fuego |
| Abstract | Sea-air differences of CO2 partial pressures (Delta pCO2) and surface chlorophyll a (chl-a) concentration have been determined during 22 cruises in various seasons for 2000-2006 over the Patagonia Sea and shelf break. From spring to autumn, the nearshore waters act as a source of atmospheric CO2, while the midshelf and slope are a CO2 sink, leading to highly negative areal means of sea-air CO2 flux and Delta pCO2. The Delta pCO2 and CO2 flux in spring reach values of -67 µatm and -7×10-3 mol m-2 d-1, respectively, and are close to equilibrium in winter. Sea-air Delta pCO2 and chl-a over the shelf are negatively correlated, suggesting that photosynthesis is one of the main processes responsible for the large CO2 sequestration. The annual areal mean Delta pCO2 and sea-air CO2 flux are -31 µatm and -3.7×10-31 mol m-2 d-1, respectively, indicating that the Patagonia Sea is one of the strongest CO2 sinks per unit area in the World Ocean. |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.1029/2008JC004854 |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 64001778 |