# Spatiotemporal variability and drivers of pCO(2) and air-sea CO2 fluxes in the California Current System

Author(s) Turi, G., Lachkar, Z., Gruber, N.
Publication Type Journal Items, Publication Status: Published
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## Detailed Information

Title Spatiotemporal variability and drivers of pCO(2) and air-sea CO2 fluxes in the California Current System
Subtitle An eddy-resolving modeling study
Author(s) Turi, G.
Lachkar, Z.
Gruber, N.
Journal or Series Title Biogeosciences
Volume Number 11
Issue Number 3
Start Page 671
End Page 690
ISSN 1726-4170
1726-4189
Publisher Copernicus
Publication Place Katlenburg-Lindau
Publication Date 2014
Abstract We quantify the CO2 source/sink nature of the California Current System (CalCS) and determine the drivers and processes behind the mean and spatiotemporal variability of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO(2)) in the surface ocean. To this end, we analyze eddy-resolving, climatological simulations of a coupled physical-biogeochemical oceanic model on the basis of the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). In the annual mean, the entire CalCS within 800 km of the coast and from similar to 33 degrees N to 46 degrees N is essentially neutral with regard to atmospheric CO2: the model simulates an integrated uptake flux of -0.9 +/- 3.6 Tg C yr(-1), corresponding to an average flux density of -0.05 +/- 0.20 mol Cm-2 yr(-1). This near zero flux is a consequence of an almost complete regional compensation between (i) strong outgassing in the nearshore region (first 100 km) that brings waters with high concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) to the surface and (ii) and a weaker, but more widespread uptake flux in the offshore region due to an intense biological reduction of this DIC, driven by the nutrients that are upwelled together with the DIC. The air-sea CO2 fluxes vary substantially in time, both on seasonal and sub-seasonal timescales, largely driven by variations in surface ocean pCO(2). Most of the variability in pCO(2) is associated with the seasonal cycle, with the exception of the nearshore region, where sub-seasonal variations driven by mesoscale processes dominate. In the regions offshore of 100 km, changes in surface temperature are the main driver, while in the nearshore region, changes in surface temperature, as well as anomalies in DIC and alkalinity (Alk) owing to changes in circulation, biological productivity and air-sea CO2 fluxes dominate. The prevalence of eddy-driven variability in the nearshore 100 km leads to a complex spatiotemporal mosaic of surface ocean pCO(2) and air-sea CO2 fluxes that require a substantial observational effort to determine the source/sink nature of this region reliably.
DOI 10.5194/bg-11-671-2014
Additional Notes Received: 7 August 2013, Published in Biogeosciences Discuss.: 26 August 2013, Revised: 14 December 2013, Accepted: 31 December 2013, Published: 6 February 2014
Document Type Article
Publication Status Published
Language English
Assigned Organisational Unit(s) 03731
Organisational Unit(s)
NEBIS System Number 006289717
Source Database ID WOS-000334099700010
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@article{Tr2014,
author = "Turi, G. and Lachkar, Z. and Gruber, N.",
title = "{S}patiotemporal variability and drivers of p{C}{O}(2) and air-sea {C}{O}2 fluxes in the {C}alifornia {C}urrent {S}ystem: {A}n eddy-resolving modeling study",
journal = "Biogeosciences",
year = 2014,
volume = "11",
number = "3",
pages = "671--690",
}


E-Citations record created: Mon, 19 May 2014, 08:17:38 CET