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Evaluation of the net CO2 uptake in the Canada Basin in the summer of 2008

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Abstract

The third Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) was conducted in the summer of 2008. During the survey, the surface seawater partial pressure of CO2 (ρCO2) was measured, and sea water samples were collected for CO2 measurement in the Canada Basin. The distribution of ρCO2 in the Canada Basin was determined, the influencing factors were addressed, and the air-sea CO2 flux in the Canada Basin was evaluated. The Canada Basin was divided into three regions: the ice-free zone (south of 77°N), the partially ice-covered zone (77°–80°N), and the heavily ice-covered zone (north of 80°N). In the ice-free zone, ρCO2 was high (320 to 368 μatm, 1 μatm=0.101 325 Pa), primarily due to rapid equilibration with atmospheric CO2 over a short time. In the partially ice-covered zone, the surface ρCO2 was relatively low (250 to 270 μatm) due to ice-edge blooms and icemelt water dilution. In the heavily ice-covered zone, the seawater ρCO2 varied between 270 and 300 μatm due to biological CO2 removal, the transportation of low ρCO2 water northward, and heavy ice cover. The surface seawater ρCO2 during the survey was undersaturated with respect to the atmosphere in the Canada Basin, and it was a net sink for atmospheric CO2. The summertime net CO2 uptake of the ice-free zone, the partially ice-covered zone and the heavily ice-covered zone was (4.14±1.08), (1.79±0.19), and (0.57±0.03) Tg/a (calculated by carbon, 1 Tg=1012 g), respectively. Overall, the net CO2 sink of the Canada Basin in the summer of 2008 was (6.5±1.3) Tg/a, which accounted for 4%–10% of the Arctic Ocean CO2 sink.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank the Chinese Arctic and AntArctic Administration and the crew of the Icebreaker Xuelong for their help. We are grateful to Zhao Jinping’s group for providing the temperature and salinity data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Global Change and Marine Atmospheric Chemistry of State Oceanic Administration, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Heng Sun, Zhongyong Gao & Liqi Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Coastal and Offshore Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Peng Lu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Peng Xiu

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  1. Heng Sun
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  2. Zhongyong Gao
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  3. Peng Lu
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  4. Peng Xiu
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  5. Liqi Chen
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Correspondence to Zhongyong Gao.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under contract Nos 41476173 and 41406221; the Chinese Projects for Investigations and Assessments of the Arctic and AntArctic under contract Nos CHINARE2012-04-04 and 2012-04-03; the Fujian Science and Technology Innovation Leader Project 2016; the Scientific Research Foundation of Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA under contract No. 2014006.

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Sun, H., Gao, Z., Lu, P. et al. Evaluation of the net CO2 uptake in the Canada Basin in the summer of 2008. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 94–100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1028-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1028-9

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