Air-sea CO 2 fluxes along the coast of Chile: From CO 2 outgassing in central northern upwelling waters to CO 2 uptake in southern Patagonian fjords

Torres R.; González H.E.; Daneri G.; Pantoja S.; Harada, N; Fukasawa, M; Frangopulos, M.; Rutllant, J.A.; Duarte C.M.; Ruiz-Halpern S.; Mayol E

Keywords: systems, water, trends, chile, coast, variability, waters, pacific, co, variation, surface, patagonia, flux, dioxide, interaction, carbon, northern, upwelling, coastal, winter, saturation, fluxes, sequestration, south-pacific, fjord, analysis, austral, sink, seasonal, temporal, spatial, and, engineering, eastern, atmospheric, degassing, spatiotemporal, air-sea, America], [Chile], [South, Undersaturation

Abstract

Carbon system parameters measured during several expeditions along the coast of Chile (23°S-56°S) have been used to show the main spatial and temporal trends of air-sea CO 2 fluxes in the coastal waters of the eastern South Pacific. Chilean coastal waters are characterized by strong pCO 2 gradients between the atmosphere and the surface water, with high spatial and temporal variability. On average, the direction of the carbon flux changes from CO 2 outgassing at the coastal upwelling region to CO 2 sequestering at the nonupwelling fjord region in Chilean Patagonia. Estimations of surface water pCO 2 along the Patagonian fjord region showed that, while minimum pCO 2 levels (strong CO 2 undersaturation) occurs during the spring and summer period, maximum levels (including CO 2 supersaturation) occur during the austral winter. CO 2 uptake in the Patagonia fjord region during spring-summer is within the order of -5 mol C m -2 yr -1, indicating a significant regional sink of atmospheric CO 2 during that season. We suggest that the CO 2 sink at Patagonia most probably exceeds the CO 2 source exerted by the coastal upwelling system off central northern Chile. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Más información

Título de la Revista: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volumen: 116
Número: 9
Editorial: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Fecha de publicación: 2011
URL: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-80052766023&partnerID=q2rCbXpz