Variability in atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentrations in the southern Pacific Ocean and their comparison with model estimates

Thompson, Rona L., Gloor, Manuel, Manning, Andrew C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-7773, Lowe, David C., Rödenbeck, Christian and Le Quere, Corinne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2319-0452 (2008) Variability in atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentrations in the southern Pacific Ocean and their comparison with model estimates. Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences, 113 (2).

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

We examine ship-based observations of atmospheric O2 and CO2 in the southern Pacific Ocean made during two voyages: in February 2003 and in April 2004. We found, for the Austral late summer to autumn, evidence of a maximum in Atmospheric Potential Oxygen (APO) (an atmospheric tracer that is conservative with respect to terrestrial biological activity, APO ˜ O2 + CO2) centered around 50°S owing to biologically driven O2 outgassing (associated with strong productivity in the Sub-Tropical Convergence Zone) and evidence in the February voyage of a decreasing APO trend from 57°S south toward the Antarctic coast. The observed APO variability appears to be primarily determined by the interplay between atmospheric transport and the spatial distribution of O2 air-sea flux resulting from regional differences in biological production. Comparisons of these observations with APO derived from coupling the TM3 atmospheric transport model with flux estimates from (1) the PISCES-T ocean biogeochemistry model, and (2) O2 and CO2 climatologies, show that both PISCES-T and the climatology reproduce the observed gradient and curvature of APO but underestimate the magnitude of the observed APO maximum in the mid southern latitudes. Although the temporal limitation of our data does not permit us to calculate the annual mean APO gradient, the results support previous model predictions of a decreasing APO trend from the mid to high southern latitudes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 13 - climate action,sdg 15 - life on land ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	26 Feb 2011 11:54
Last Modified:	13 Apr 2023 13:35
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24786
DOI:	10.1029/2007JG000554

Actions (login required)

View Item