Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Sink/Source in the Oceanic Areas: The Results of 1982-84 Investigation. Final Technical Report

摘要

The oceanic CO sub 2 sink/source relationships over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the eastern North and South Pacific Ocean, and the Ross Sea were investigated. The net CO sub 2 flux across the air-sea interface over these areas was estimated. Measurements of the Kr-85 in atmospheric samples collected over the central Pacific along the 155 deg W meridian were initiated. Based on the measurements of the difference between the pCO sub 2 values in the surface ocean water and the atmosphere and of the radon-222 distribution in the upper water column, we have found that the average net flux for the Atlantic equatorial belt, 10 deg N-10 deg S, is 1.3 moles CO sub 2 /m exp 2 .y out of the ocean, when our measurements were made in November 1982 through February 1983. The surface water pCO sub 2 data obtained over the eastern North and South Pacific during the period, October 1983 through January 1984, show that the equatorial zone between 2 deg N and 8 deg S is an intense CO sub 2 source area, whereas a 10 deg wide belt coinciding with the area between the Subtropical and Antarctic Convergence Zones is a strong CO sub 2 sink area. The temperate gyre area located north of about 5 deg N and that located between 8 deg S and 35 deg S are nearly in equilibrium with atmospheric CO sub 2 . The surface water pCO sub 2 data obtained in the Southern Ocean during the past ten or more years suggest strongly the existence of an intense CO sub 2 sink zone, the Circumpolar Low pCO sub 2 Zone, which is about 10 deg wide in latitude and centered at about 50 deg S surrounding the Antarctica Continent. The surface water of the Ross Sea is found to be a strong CO sub 2 sink during the period January 23 through February 12, 1984. Because of contamination problems, no reliable data for atmospheric krypton-85 have been obtained. 23 refs., 22 figs., 3 tabs. (ERA citation 10:042901)