FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI On which timescales do gas transfer velocities control North Atlantic CO2 flux variability?
BT 
AF COULDREY, Matthew P.
   OLIVER, Kevin I. C.
   YOOL, Andrew
   HALLORAN, Paul R.
   ACHTERBERG, Eric P.
AS 1:1;2:1;3:2;4:3;5:1,4;
FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;
C1 Univ Southampton, Natl Oceanog Ctr, Ocean & Earth Sci, Southampton, Hants, England.
   Natl Oceanog Ctr, Southampton, Hants, England.
   Univ Exeter, Coll Life & Environm Sci, Geog, Exeter, Devon, England.
   GEOMAR Helmholtz Zentrum Ozeanforsch, Kiel, Germany.
C2 UNIV SOUTHAMPTON, UK
   NOC, UK
   UNIV EXETER, UK
   GEOMAR HELMHOLTZ ZENTRUM OZEANFORSCH, GERMANY
IF 4.655
TC 12
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00383/49418/49868.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00383/49418/49869.tex
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00383/49418/49870.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00383/49418/49871.eps
LA English
DT Article
CR OISO - OCÉAN INDIEN SERVICE D'OBSERVATION
DE ;carbon flux;gas transfer velocity;carbon cycle;ocean model;climate dynamics;variability
AB The North Atlantic is an important basin for the global ocean's uptake of anthropogenic and natural carbon dioxide (CO2), but the mechanisms controlling this carbon flux are not fully understood. The air-sea flux of CO2, F, is the product of a gas transfer velocity, k, the air-sea CO2 concentration gradient, Delta pCO(2), and the temperature-and salinity-dependent solubility coefficient, alpha, k is difficult to constrain, representing the dominant uncertainty in F on short (instantaneous to interannual) timescales. Previous work shows that in the North Atlantic, Delta pCO(2) and k both contribute significantly to interannual F variability but that k is unimportant for multidecadal variability. On some timescale between interannual and multidecadal, gas transfer velocity variability and its associated uncertainty become negligible. Here we quantify this critical timescale for the first time. Using an ocean model, we determine the importance of k, Delta pCO(2), and.. on a range of timescales. On interannual and shorter timescales, both Delta pCO(2) and k are important controls on F. In contrast, pentadal to multidecadal North Atlantic flux variability is driven almost entirely by Delta pCO(2); k contributes less than 25%. Finally, we explore how accurately one can estimate North Atlantic F without a knowledge of nonseasonal k variability, finding it possible for interannual and longer timescales. These findings suggest that continued efforts to better constrain gas transfer velocities are necessary to quantify interannual variability in the North Atlantic carbon sink. However, uncertainty in k variability is unlikely to limit the accuracy of estimates of longer-term flux variability. 
PY 2016
PD MAY
SO Global Biogeochemical Cycles
SN 0886-6236
PU Amer Geophysical Union
VL 30
IS 5
UT 000379949100011
BP 787
EP 802
DI 10.1002/2015GB005267
ID 49418
ER

EF