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Temporal variability of the anthropogenic CO2 storage in the Irminger Sea
1Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, CSIC, Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain
2Laboratoire de Chimie Marine, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer et UMR CNRS UPMC 7144 Roscoff, Plouzané, France
3Laboratoire de Physique des Océans, CNRS Ifremer IRD UBO, IFREMER Centre de Brest, B.P. 70 29280 Plouzané, France
Abstract. The anthropogenic CO2 (Cant) estimates from cruises spanning more than two decades (1981–2006) in the Irminger Sea area reveal a large variability of the Cant storage rates in the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre. During the early 1990's, the Cant uptake rates doubled the average rate for 1981–2006, whilst a remarkable drop to almost half that average followed from 1997 onwards. The Cant storage evolution runs parallel to CFC12 inventories and is in good agreement with Cant uptake rates of increase calculated from sea surface pCO2 measurements. The North Atlantic Oscillation shift from a positive to a negative phase in 1996 led to a reduction of the air-sea heat loss in the Labrador Sea. The consequent convection weakening accompanied by an increase in stratification lowered the efficiency of the northern North Atlantic CO2 sink.
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Citation: Pérez, F. F., Vázquez-Rodríguez, M., Louarn, E., Padín, X. A., Mercier, H., and Ríos, A. F.: Temporal variability of the anthropogenic CO2 storage in the Irminger Sea, Biogeosciences Discuss., 5, 1587-1606, 2008. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
