Seasonal variability of net sea-air CO₂ fluxes in a coastal region of the northern Antarctic Peninsula.

ABSTRACT: We show an annual overview of the sea-air CO₂ exchanges and primary drivers in the Gerlache Strait, a hotspot for climate change that is ecologically important in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. In autumn and winter, episodic upwelling events increase the remineralized carbon in the sea surface, leading the region to act as a moderate or strong CO₂ source to the atmosphere of up to 40 mmol m^-2 day^-1. During summer and late spring, photosynthesis decreases the CO₂ partial pressure in the surface seawater, enhancing ocean CO₂ uptake, which reaches values higher than - 40 mmol m^-2 day^-1. Thus, autumn/winter CO₂ outgassing is nearly balanced by an only 4-month period of intense ocean CO_2</

SUBMITTER: Monteiro T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7483740 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature