[en] A 3D coupled biogeochemical–hydrodynamic model (MIRO-CO2&CO) is implemented in the English Channel (ECH) and the Southern Bight of the North Sea (SBNS) to estimate the present-day spatio-temporal distribution of air–sea CO2 fluxes, surface water partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) and other components of the carbonate system (pH, saturation state of calcite (Xca) and of aragonite (Xar)), and the main drivers of their variability. Over the 1994–2004 period, air–sea CO2 fluxes show significant interannual variability, with oscillations between net annual CO2 sinks and sources. The inter annual variability of air–sea CO2 fluxes simulated in the SBNS is controlled primarily by river loads and changes of biological activities (net autotrophy in spring and early summer, and net heterotrophy in winter and autumn), while in areas less influenced by river inputs such as the ECH, the inter annual variations of air–sea CO2 fluxes are mainly due to changes in sea surface temperature and in near-surface wind strength and direction. In the ECH, the decrease of pH, of Xca and of Xar follows the one expected from the increase of atmospheric CO2 (ocean acidification), but the decrease of these quantities in the SBNS during the considered time period is faster than the one expected from ocean acidification alone. This seems to be related to a general pattern of decreasing nutrient river loads and net ecosystem production (NEP) in the SBNS. Annually, the combined effect of carbon and nutrient loads leads to an increase of the sink of CO2 in the ECH and the SBNS, but the impact of the river loads varies spatially and is stronger in river plumes and nearshore waters than in offshore waters. The impact of organic and inorganic carbon (C) inputs is mainly confined to the coast and generates a source of CO2 to the atmosphere and low pH, of Xca and of Xar values in estuarine plumes, while the impact of nutrient loads, highest than the effect of C inputs in coastal nearshore waters, also propagates offshore and, by stimulating primary production, drives a sink of atmospheric CO2 and higher values of pH, of Xca and of Xar.
Research center :
FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège
Disciplines :
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Gypens, N.
Lacroix, G.
Lancelot, C.
Borges, Alberto ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Océanographie chimique
Language :
English
Title :
Seasonal and inter-annual variability of air-sea CO2 fluxes and seawater carbonate chemistry in the Southern North Sea
Publication date :
2011
Journal title :
Progress in Oceanography
ISSN :
0079-6611
Publisher :
Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science, Oxford, United Kingdom
Algesten G., Wikner J., Sobek S., Tranvik L.J., Jansson M. Seasonal variation of CO2 saturation in the Gulf of Bothnia: indications of marine net heterotrophy. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2004, 18:GB4021. 10.1029/2004GB002232.
Bakker D.C.E., de Barr H.J.M., de Wilde H.P.J. Dissolved carbon dioxide in Dutch coastal waters. Marine Chemistry 1996, 55:247-263.
Beamish R.J., Noakes D.J., McFarlane G.A., Klyashtorin L., Ivanov V.V., Kurashov V. The regime concept and natural trends in the production of Pacific salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 1999, 56:516-526.
Billen G., Garnier J., Ficht A., Cun C. Modeling the response of water quality in the Seine river estuary to human activity in its watershed over the last 50years. Estuaries 2001, 24:977-993.
Billen G., Garnier J., Rousseau V. Nutrient fluxes and water quality in the drainage network of the Scheldt basin over the last 50years. Hydrobiologia 2005, 540:47-67.
Borges A.V. Do we have enough pieces of the jigsaw to integrate CO2 fluxes in the Coastal Ocean?. Estuaries 2005, 28(1):3-27.
Borges A., Frankignoulle M. Daily and seasonal variations of the partial pressure of CO2 in surface seawater along Belgian and southern Dutch coastal areas. Journal of Marine Systems 1999, 19(4):251-266.
Borges A.V., Frankignoulle M. Distribution and air-water exchange of carbon dioxide in the Scheldt plume off the Belgian coast. Biogeochemistry 2002, 59:41-47.
Borges A.V., Frankignoulle M. Distribution of surface carbon dioxide and air-sea exchange in the English Channel and adjacent areas. Journal of Geophysical Research 2003, 108(5C). 10.1029/2000JC000571.
Borges A.V., Gypens N. Carbonate chemistry in the coastal zone responds more strongly to eutrophication than to ocean acidification. Limnology and Oceanography 2010, 55:346-353.
Borges A.V., Delille B., Frankignoulle M. Budgeting sinks and sources of CO2 in the coastal ocean: diversity of ecosystems counts. Geophysical Research Letters 2005, 32:L14601. 10.1029/2005GL023053.
Borges A.V., Schiettecatte L.-S., Abril G., Delille B., Gazeau F. Carbon dioxide in European coastal waters. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2006, 70(3):375-387.
Borges A.V., Ruddick K., Schiettecatte L.-S., Delille B. Net ecosystem production and carbon dioxide fluxes in the Scheldt estuarine plume. BMC Ecology 2008, 8:15. 10.1186/1472-6785-8-15.
Borges A.V., Tilbrook B., Metzl N., Lenton A., Delille B. Inter-annual variability of the carbon dioxide oceanic sink south of Tasmania. Biogeosciences 2008, 5:141-155.
Cai W.-J., Wang Y. The chemistry, fluxes, and sources of carbon dioxide in the estuarine waters of the Satilla and Altamaha Rivers, Georgia. Limnology and Oceanography 1998, 43(4):657-668.
Cai W.-J., Wang Z.A., Wang Y. The role of marsh-dominated heterotrophic continental margins in transport of CO2 between the atmosphere, the land-sea interface and the ocean. Geophysical Research Letters 2003, 30:1849. 10.1029/2003GL017633.
Cai W.-J., Dai M.H., Wang Y.C. Air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide in ocean margins: a province-based synthesis. Geophysical Research Letters 2006, 33:L12603. 10.1029/2006GL026219.
Cai W.-J., Guo X., Chen C.T.A., Dai M., Zhang L., Zhai W., Lohrenz S.E., Yin K., Harrison P.J., Wang Y. A comparative overview of weathering intensity and HCO3- flux in the world's major rivers with emphasis on the Changjiang, Huanghe, Zhujiang (Pearl) and Mississippi Rivers. Continental Shelf Research 2008, 28(1-2):1538-1549.
Chen C.T.A., Borges A.V. Reconciling opposing views on carbon cycling in the coastal ocean: continental shelves as sinks and nearshore ecosystems as sources of atmospheric CO2. Deep-Sea Research II 2009, 56(8-10):578-590.
Chierici M., Fransson A. Calcium carbonate saturation in the surface water of the Arctic Ocean: undersaturation in freshwater influenced shelves. Biogeosciences 2009, 6:2421-2432.
Dickson A.G. Thermodynamics of the dissociation of boric acid in synthetic sea water from 273.15 to 298.15K. Deep-Sea Research Part A 1990, 37:755-766.
Doney S.C., Mahowald N., Lima I., Feely R.A., Mackenzie F.T., Lamarque J.-F., Rasch P.J. Impact of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur deposition on ocean acidification and the inorganic carbon system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2007, 104(37):14580-14585.
Doney S.C., Fabry V.J., Feely R.A., Kleypas J.A. ocean acidification: the other CO2 problem. Annual Review of Marine Science 2009, 1:169-192.
Fabry V.J., Seibel B.A., Feely R.A., Orr J.C. Impacts of ocean acidification on marine fauna and ecosystem processes. Journal of Marine Science 2008, 65:414-432.
Feely R.A., Sabine C.L., Hernandez-Ayon J.M., Ianson D., Hales B. Evidence for upwelling of corrosive "acidified" water onto the continental shelf. Science 2008, 320:1490-1492.
Frankignoulle M., Borges A.V. European continental shelf as a significant sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2001, 15(3):569-576.
Frankignoulle M., Bourge I., Wollast R. Atmospheric CO2 fluxes in a highly polluted estuary (The Scheldt). Limnology and Oceanography 1996, 41(2):365-369.
Frankignoulle M., Abril G., Borges A.V., Bourge I., Canon C., Delille B., Libert E., Théate J.-M. Carbon dioxide emission from European estuaries. Science 1998, 282:434-436.
Friederich G.E., Walz P.M., Burczynski M.G., Chavez F.P. Inorganic carbon in the central California upwelling system during the 1997-1999 El Niño-La Niña events. Progress in Oceanography 2002, 54(1-4):185-203.
Gledhill D.K., Wanninkhof R., Millero F.J., Eakin M. Ocean acidification of the greater Caribbean region 1996-2006. Journal of Geophysical Research 2008, 113:C10031. 10.1029/2007JC004629.
Gypens N., Lancelot C., Borges A.V. Carbon dynamics and CO2 air-sea exchanges in the eutrophied coastal waters of the Southern Bight of the North Sea: a modelling study. Biogeosciences 2004, 1:147-157.
Gypens N., Borges A.V., Lancelot C. Effect of eutrophication on air-sea CO2 fluxes in the coastal Southern North Sea: a model study of the past 50years. Global Change Biology 2009, 15(4):1040-1056.
Hoppema J.M.J. The seasonal behaviour of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the coastal North Sea along the Netherlands. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 1991, 28:167-179.
Jiang L.-Q., Cai W.-J., Wanninkhof R., Wang Y., Hüger H. Air-sea CO2 fluxes on the US South Atlantic Bight: spatial and seasonal variability. Journal of Geophysical Research 2008, 113:C07019. 10.1029/2007JC004366.
Kempe S., Pegler K. Sinks and sources of CO2 in coastal seas: the North Sea. Tellus 1991, 43B:224-235.
Kleypas, J.A., Feely, R.A., Fabry, V.J., Langdon, C., Sabine, C.L., Robbins, L.L., 2006. In: Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers: A Guide for Future Research, Report of a Workshop Held 18-20 April 2005, St. Petersburg, FL, sponsored by NSF, NOAA, and the US Geological Survey, 88 pp.
Körtzinger A. A significant CO2 sink in the tropical Atlantic Ocean associated with the Amazon River plume. Geophysical Research Letters 2003, 30(24):2287. 10.1029/2003GL018841.
Lacroix G., Ruddick K., Ozer J., Lancelot C. Modelling the impact of the Scheldt and Rhine/Meuse plumes on the salinity distribution in Belgian waters (Southern North Sea). Journal of Sea Research 2004, 52:149-163.
Lacroix G., Ruddick K., Gypens N., Lancelot C. Modelling the relative impact of rivers (Scheldt/Rhine/Seine) and Western Channel waters on the nutrient and diatoms/Phaeocystis distributions in Belgian waters (Southern North Sea). Continental Shelf Research 2007, 27(10-11):1422-1446.
Lacroix G., Ruddick K., Park Y., Gypens N., Lancelot C. Validation of the 3D biogeochemical model MIRO&CO with field nutrient and phytoplankton data and MERIS-derived surface chlorophyll a images. Journal of Marine Systems 2007, 64(1-4):66-88.
Lacroix, G., Sirjacobs, D., Ruddick, K., Park, Y., Beckers, J.-M. and Lancelot, C., submitted for publication. Spatial variability of the spring bloom timing in the Southern North Sea investigated by MIRO&CO-3D and remote sensing. Journal of Marine Systems.
Lancelot C., Spitz Y., Gypens N., Ruddick K., Becquevort S., Rousseau V., Lacroix G., Billen G. Modelling diatom and Phaeocystis blooms and nutrient cycles in the Southern Bight of the North Sea: the MIRO model. Marine Ecology Progress Series 2005, 289:63-78.
Lancelot C., Gypens N., Billen G., Garnier J., Roubeix V. Testing an integrated river-ocean mathematical tool for linking marine eutrophication to land use: the Phaeocystis-dominated Belgian coastal zone (Southern North Sea) over the past 50years. Journal of Marine System 2007, 64:216-228.
Laruelle G.G., Dürr H.H., Slomp C.P., Borges A.V. Evaluation of sinks and sources of CO2 in the global coastal ocean using a spatially-explicit typology of estuaries and continental shelves. Geophysical Research Letters 2010, 37:L15607. 10.1029/2010GL043691.
Liu K.K., Iseki K., Chao S.-Y. Continental margin carbon fluxes. The Changing Ocean Carbon Cycle: A midterm synthesis of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study 2000, 187-239. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. R.B. Hansson, H.W. Ducklow, J.G. Field (Eds.).
Loewe, P., 2003. Weekly North Sea SST Analyses since 1968. In: Hydrographie, O.d.a.h.b.B.f.S.u. (Ed.), D-20305 Hamburg, P.O. Box 301220, Germany.
McKinley G.A., Follows M.J., Marshall J. Mechanisms of air-sea CO2 flux variability in the equatorial Pacific and the North Atlantic. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2004, 18:GB2011. 10.1029/2003GB002179.
Mehrbach C., Culberson C.H., Hawley J.E., Pytkowicz R.M. Measurements of the apparent dissociation constants of carbonic acid in seawater at atmospheric pressure. Limnology and Oceanography 1973, 18:897-907.
Mills D.K., Tett P.B., Novarino G. The spring bloom in the South Western North Sea in 1989. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 1994, 33(1):65-80.
Mucci A. The solubility of calcite and aragonite in seawater at various salinities, temperatures, and one atmosphere total pressure. American Journal of Science 1983, 283:781-799.
Nightingale P.D., Malin G., Law C.S., Watson A.J., Liss P.S., Liddicoat M.I., Boutin J., Upstill-Goddard R.C. In situ evaluation of air-sea gas exchange parameterizations using novel conservative and volatile tracers. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2000, 14:373-387.
Omar A.M., Olsen A., Johannessen T., Hoppema M., Thomas H., Borges A.V. Spatiotemporal variations of fCO2 in the North Sea. Ocean Science 2010, 6:77-89.
Omstedt A., Gustafsson E., Wesslander K. Modelling the uptake and release of carbon dioxide in the Baltic Sea surface water. Continental Shelf Research 2009, 29:870-885.
Previdi M., Fennel K., Wilkin J., Haidvogel D. Interannual variability in atmospheric CO2 uptake on the northeast US continental shelf. Journal of Geophysical Research 2009, 114:G04003. 10.1029/2008JG000881.
Salisbury J., Green M., Hunt C., Campbell J. Coastal acidification by rivers: a new threat to shellfish?. Eos Transactions AGU 2008, 89(50):513.
Salisbury J., Vandemark D., Hunt C., Campbell J., Jonsson B., Mahadevan A., McGillis W., Xue H. Episodic riverine influence on surface DIC in the coastal Gulf of Maine. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2009, 82:108-118.
Schiettecatte L.-S., Gazeau F., Van der Zee C., Brion N., Borges A.V. Time series of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (2001-2004) and preliminary inorganic carbon budget in the Scheldt plume (Belgian coast waters). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G3) 2006, 7:Q06009. 10.1029/2005GC001161.
Schiettecatte L.-S., Thomas H., Bozec Y., Borges A.V. High temporal coverage of carbon dioxide measurements in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Marine Chemistry 2007, 106(1-2):161-173.
Takahashi T., Sutherland S.C., Wanninkhof R., Sweeney C., Feely R.A., Chipman D.W., Hales B., Friederich G., Chavez F., Sabine C., Watson A., Bakker D.C.E., Schuster U., Metzl N., Yoshikawa-Inoue Hi., Ishii M., Midorikawa T., Nojiri Y., Körtzinger A., Steinhoff T., Hoppema M., Olafsson J., Arnarson T.S., Tilbrook B., Johannessen T., Olsen A., Bellerby R., Wong C.S., Delille B., Bates N.R., de Baar H.J.W. Climatological mean and decadal change in surface ocean pCO2, and net sea-air CO2 flux over the global oceans. Deep-Sea Research II 2009, 56(8-10):554-577.
Thomas H., Bozec Y., Elkalay K., De Baar H.J.W. Enhanced open ocean storage of CO2 from shelf sea pumping. Science 2004, 304(5673):1005-1008.
Tsunogai S., Watanabe S., Sato T. Is there a "continental shelf pump'' for the absorption of atmospheric CO2?. Tellus Series A 1999, 51:701-712.
Weiss R.F. Carbon dioxide in water and seawater: the solubility of a non-ideal gas. Marine Chemistry 1974, 2:203-215.
Wesslander K., Omstedt A., Schneider B. Inter-annual and seasonal variations in the air-sea CO2 balance in the central Baltic Sea and the Kattegat. Continental Shelf Research 2010, 30:1511-1521.
Wikle, C.K., 2002. Spatio-temporal methods in climatology. In: El-Shaarawi, A.H., Jureckova, J. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS). Eolss, Oxford, UK. Developed Under the Auspices of the UNESCO, http://www.eolss.net.
