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Unraveling dynamical controls on the North Pacific carbon sink

Publication ,  Journal Article
Ayers, JM; Lozier, MS
Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
January 1, 2012

A broad swath across the North Pacific basin uptakes a disproportionately large amount of atmospheric CO2 every year, with the region of most intense uptake located in the North Pacific transition zone, from ∼30N to 40N-45N. Though a net carbon sink on a mean annual basis, the region varies seasonally between a strong sink in winter and a neutral to weak source in summer. Herein we use observational carbon data to investigate processes regulating air-sea CO2 flux in this region on seasonal and annual timescales by quantifying the impacts of temperature, biology, and physics on seawater pCO2. Temperature effects dominate the pCO2 signal seasonally, yet support only a portion of the annual CO2 uptake in the region, via their impact on the solubility of CO2 in seawater. Instead, processes removing carbon from surface waters dominantly support the region's uptake of CO2 on annual timescales: the vertical export of organic carbon to depth, and the geostrophic advection of dissolved inorganic carbon laterally out of the region. We find the location of this carbon sink region, traditionally attributed to a combination of biological and temperature effects, to instead be driven by the steady geostrophic divergence of DIC at these latitudes. Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

DOI

EISSN

2169-9291

Publication Date

January 1, 2012

Volume

117

Issue

1

Related Subject Headings

  • 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience
  • 3708 Oceanography
  • 3706 Geophysics
  • 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
  • 0405 Oceanography
  • 0404 Geophysics
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Ayers, J. M., & Lozier, M. S. (2012). Unraveling dynamical controls on the North Pacific carbon sink. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 117(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007368
Ayers, J. M., and M. S. Lozier. “Unraveling dynamical controls on the North Pacific carbon sink.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 117, no. 1 (January 1, 2012). https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007368.
Ayers JM, Lozier MS. Unraveling dynamical controls on the North Pacific carbon sink. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 2012 Jan 1;117(1).
Ayers, J. M., and M. S. Lozier. “Unraveling dynamical controls on the North Pacific carbon sink.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, vol. 117, no. 1, Jan. 2012. Scopus, doi:10.1029/2011JC007368.
Ayers JM, Lozier MS. Unraveling dynamical controls on the North Pacific carbon sink. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. 2012 Jan 1;117(1).

Published In

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

DOI

EISSN

2169-9291

Publication Date

January 1, 2012

Volume

117

Issue

1

Related Subject Headings

  • 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience
  • 3708 Oceanography
  • 3706 Geophysics
  • 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
  • 0405 Oceanography
  • 0404 Geophysics