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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Sea-air CO
2
fluxes in the Southern Ocean for the period 1990-2009
Biogeosciences, Volume 10, No. 6, Year 2013
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Description
The Southern Ocean (44-75° S) plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle, yet remains one of the most poorly sampled ocean regions. Different approaches have been used to estimate sea-air CO2 fluxes in this region: synthesis of surface ocean observations, ocean biogeochemical models, and atmospheric and ocean inversions. As part of the RECCAP (REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes) project, we combine these different approaches to quantify and assess the magnitude and variability in Southern Ocean sea-air CO2 fluxes between 1990-2009. Using all models and inversions (26), the integrated median annual sea-air CO2 flux of -0.42±0.07 PgC yr-1 for the 44-75° S region, is consistent with the -0.27±0.13 PgC yr-1 calculated using surface observations. The circumpolar region south of 58° S has a small net annual flux (model and inversion median: -0.04±0.07 PgC yr-1 and observations: +0.04±0.02 PgC yr-1), with most of the net annual flux located in the 44 to 58° S circumpolar band (model and inversion median: -0.36±0.09 PgC yr-1 and observations: -0.35±0.09 PgC yr-1). Seasonally, in the 44-58° S region, the median of 5 ocean biogeochemical models captures the observed sea-air CO2 flux seasonal cycle, while the median of 11 atmospheric inversions shows little seasonal change in the net flux. South of 58° S, neither atmospheric inversions nor ocean biogeochemical models reproduce the phase and amplitude of the observed seasonal sea-air CO2 flux, particularly in the AustralWinter. Importantly, no individual atmospheric inversion or ocean biogeochemical model is capable of reproducing both the observed annual mean uptake and the observed seasonal cycle. This raises concerns about projecting future changes in Southern Ocean CO2 fluxes. The median interannual variability from atmospheric inversions and ocean biogeochemical models is substantial in the Southern Ocean; up to 25% of the annual mean flux, with 25% of this interannual variability attributed to the region south of 58° S. Resolving long-term trends is difficult due to the large interannual variability and short time frame (1990-2009) of this study; this is particularly evident from the large spread in trends from inversions and ocean biogeochemical models. Nevertheless, in the period 1990-2009 ocean biogeochemical models do show increasing oceanic uptake consistent with the expected increase of -0.05 PgC yr-1 decade-1. In contrast, atmospheric inversions suggest little change in the strength of the CO 2 sink broadly consistent with the results of Le Quéré et al. (2007). © Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
Authors & Co-Authors
Lenton, A.
Australia, Hobart
Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research
Tilbrook, B.
Australia, Hobart
Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research
Australia, Hobart
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre
Law, R. M.
Australia, Hobart
Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research
Bakker, Dorothee C.E.
United Kingdom, Norwich
University of East Anglia
Doney, Scott C.
United States, Woods Hole
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Gruber, Nicolas
Switzerland, Zurich
Eth Zürich
Ishii, Masao
Japan, Tsukuba
Meteorological Research Institute
Hoppema, M.
Germany, Bremerhaven
Alfred-wegener-institut Helmholtz-zentrum Für Polar- Und Meeresforschung
Lovenduski, N. S.
United States, Boulder
University of Colorado Boulder
Matear, Richard James
Australia, Hobart
Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research
McNeil, B. I.
Australia, Sydney
Unsw Sydney
Metzl, Nicolas
France, Paris
Laboratoire D'océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques
Fletcher, S. E.Mikaloff
New Zealand, Auckland
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Monteiro, Pedro M.S.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
South Africa, Pretoria
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Rödenbeck, Christian
Germany, Jena
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Sweeney, C.
United States, Boulder
University of Colorado Boulder
Takahashi, Taro
United States, Palisades
Lamont-doherty Earth Observatory
Statistics
Citations: 190
Authors: 17
Affiliations: 15
Identifiers
Doi:
10.5194/bg-10-4037-2013
e-ISSN:
17264189
Research Areas
Environmental