Determination of anthropogenic CO2 in the North Atlantic Ocean using water mass ages and CO2 equilibrium chemistry
Helmuth Thomas
Venugopalan Ittekkot
Abstract
A new method to calculate the anthropogenic CO2 (ΔDICant) within the water column of the North Atlantic Ocean is presented. The method exploits the equilibrium chemistry of the carbonate system with reference to temperature, salinity and the partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 (pCO2,atm). ΔDICant is calculated with reference to the ventilation ages of water masses derived from tracer data and to the time history of pCO2,atm. The method is applied to data recorded during the WOCE program on the WHP A1/E transect in the North Atlantic Ocean, where we characterise six key water masses by their relationships of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and apparent oxygen utilisation (AOU). The error in determining ΔDICant is reduced significantly by minimising the number of values referred to, especially by avoiding any use of remineralisation ratios of particulate organic matter. The distribution of ΔDICant shows highest values of up to 45 μmol kg−1 in the surface waters falling to 28–33 μmol kg−1 in the Irminger Sea west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The eastern basin is imprinted by older water masses revealing decreasing values down to 10 μmol kg−1 ΔDICant in the Antarctic Bottom Water. These findings indicate the penetration of the whole water column of the North Atlantic Ocean by anthropogenic CO2.
Thomas H. and Ittekkot V. (2000) Determination of anthropogenic CO2 in the North Atlantic Ocean using water mass ages and CO2 equilibrium chemistry. 27(4): 325-336. 10.1016/S0924-7963(00)00077-4
@article{Thomas2000,
Title = {Determination of anthropogenic CO2 in the North Atlantic Ocean using water mass ages and CO2 equilibrium chemistry},
Author = {Thomas, Helmuth and Ittekkot, Venugopalan},
Editor = {},
Year = {2000},
Pages = {325-336},
Volume = {27},
Doi = {10.1016/S0924-7963(00)00077-4},
Abstract = {A new method to calculate the anthropogenic CO2 (ΔDICant) within the water column of the North Atlantic Ocean is presented. The method exploits the equilibrium chemistry of the carbonate system with reference to temperature, salinity and the partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 (pCO2,atm). ΔDICant is calculated with reference to the ventilation ages of water masses derived from tracer data and to the time history of pCO2,atm. The method is applied to data recorded during the WOCE program on the WHP A1/E transect in the North Atlantic Ocean, where we characterise six key water masses by their relationships of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and apparent oxygen utilisation (AOU). The error in determining ΔDICant is reduced significantly by minimising the number of values referred to, especially by avoiding any use of remineralisation ratios of particulate organic matter. The distribution of ΔDICant shows highest values of up to 45 μmol kg−1 in the surface waters falling to 28–33 μmol kg−1 in the Irminger Sea west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The eastern basin is imprinted by older water masses revealing decreasing values down to 10 μmol kg−1 ΔDICant in the Antarctic Bottom Water. These findings indicate the penetration of the whole water column of the North Atlantic Ocean by anthropogenic CO2.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Thomas, Helmuth
AU - Ittekkot, Venugopalan
TI - Determination of anthropogenic CO2 in the North Atlantic Ocean using water mass ages and CO2 equilibrium chemistry
PY - 2000
SP - 325-336
VL - 27
DO - 10.1016/S0924-7963(00)00077-4
AB - A new method to calculate the anthropogenic CO2 (ΔDICant) within the water column of the North Atlantic Ocean is presented. The method exploits the equilibrium chemistry of the carbonate system with reference to temperature, salinity and the partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 (pCO2,atm). ΔDICant is calculated with reference to the ventilation ages of water masses derived from tracer data and to the time history of pCO2,atm. The method is applied to data recorded during the WOCE program on the WHP A1/E transect in the North Atlantic Ocean, where we characterise six key water masses by their relationships of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and apparent oxygen utilisation (AOU). The error in determining ΔDICant is reduced significantly by minimising the number of values referred to, especially by avoiding any use of remineralisation ratios of particulate organic matter. The distribution of ΔDICant shows highest values of up to 45 μmol kg−1 in the surface waters falling to 28–33 μmol kg−1 in the Irminger Sea west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The eastern basin is imprinted by older water masses revealing decreasing values down to 10 μmol kg−1 ΔDICant in the Antarctic Bottom Water. These findings indicate the penetration of the whole water column of the North Atlantic Ocean by anthropogenic CO2.
ER -
