The seasonal cycle of ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux in Ryder Bay, west Antarctic Peninsula
The seasonal cycle of ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux in Ryder Bay, west Antarctic Peninsula
Approximately 15 million km2 of the Southern Ocean is seasonally ice covered, yet the processes affecting carbon cycling and gas exchange in this climatically important region remain inadequately understood. Here, 3 years of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) measurements and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from Ryder Bay on the west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) are presented. During spring and summer, primary production in the surface ocean promotes atmospheric CO2 uptake. In winter, higher DIC, caused by net heterotrophy and vertical mixing with Circumpolar Deep Water, results in outgassing of CO2 from the ocean. Ryder Bay is found to be a net sink of atmospheric CO2 of 0.59–0.94 mol Cm?2 yr?1 (average of 3 years). Seasonal sea ice cover increases the net annual CO2 uptake, but its effect on gas exchange remains poorly constrained. A reduction in sea ice on the WAP shelf may reduce the strength of the oceanic CO2 sink in this region.
ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux, Ryder Bay, seasonal sea ice, polar time series, RaTS, carbon cycling
2934-2942
Legge, Oliver J.
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Bakker, Dorothee C.E.
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Johnson, Martin T.
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Meredith, Michael P.
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Venables, Hugh J.
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Brown, Peter J.
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Lee, Gareth A.
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28 April 2015
Legge, Oliver J.
bbf39255-199a-4fc6-86e1-2db3c4c7feb9
Bakker, Dorothee C.E.
c89339eb-bee7-49f7-9410-dc317a009042
Johnson, Martin T.
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Meredith, Michael P.
25fd5f1c-f3ed-40a2-af59-5a7074a25fcd
Venables, Hugh J.
076cfe85-e2f9-4e69-8793-0ab225e7fadd
Brown, Peter J.
29f4e81e-e0c4-4147-984b-0215571fb2ca
Lee, Gareth A.
dd91e0d4-71ce-4d18-a945-1d09e5217543
Legge, Oliver J., Bakker, Dorothee C.E., Johnson, Martin T., Meredith, Michael P., Venables, Hugh J., Brown, Peter J. and Lee, Gareth A.
(2015)
The seasonal cycle of ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux in Ryder Bay, west Antarctic Peninsula.
Geophysical Research Letters, 42 (8), .
(doi:10.1002/2015GL063796).
Abstract
Approximately 15 million km2 of the Southern Ocean is seasonally ice covered, yet the processes affecting carbon cycling and gas exchange in this climatically important region remain inadequately understood. Here, 3 years of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) measurements and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from Ryder Bay on the west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) are presented. During spring and summer, primary production in the surface ocean promotes atmospheric CO2 uptake. In winter, higher DIC, caused by net heterotrophy and vertical mixing with Circumpolar Deep Water, results in outgassing of CO2 from the ocean. Ryder Bay is found to be a net sink of atmospheric CO2 of 0.59–0.94 mol Cm?2 yr?1 (average of 3 years). Seasonal sea ice cover increases the net annual CO2 uptake, but its effect on gas exchange remains poorly constrained. A reduction in sea ice on the WAP shelf may reduce the strength of the oceanic CO2 sink in this region.
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Legge_et_al-2015-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf
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e-pub ahead of print date: 28 April 2015
Published date: 28 April 2015
Keywords:
ocean-atmosphere CO2 flux, Ryder Bay, seasonal sea ice, polar time series, RaTS, carbon cycling
Organisations:
Marine Physics and Ocean Climate
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 376686
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/376686
ISSN: 0094-8276
PURE UUID: 64f86076-1dc5-47f8-ad7a-0c2351870273
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Date deposited: 30 Apr 2015 14:08
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:48
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Contributors
Author:
Oliver J. Legge
Author:
Dorothee C.E. Bakker
Author:
Martin T. Johnson
Author:
Michael P. Meredith
Author:
Hugh J. Venables
Author:
Peter J. Brown
Author:
Gareth A. Lee
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