[1] We investigate long-term trends in dissolved oxygen in the North Atlantic from 1960 to 2009 on the basis of a newly assembled high-quality dataset consisting of oxygen data from three different sources: CARINA, GLODAP and the World Ocean Database. Oxygen trends are determined along isopycnal surfaces for eight regions and five water masses using a general least-squares linear regression method that accounts for temporal auto-correlation. Our results show a significant decrease of oxygen in the Upper (UW), Mode (MW) and Intermediate (IW) waters in almost all regions over the last 5 decades. Over the same period, oxygen increased in the Lower Intermediate Water (LIW) and Labrador Sea Water (LSW) throughout the North Atlantic. The observed oxygen decreases in the MW and IW of the northern and eastern regions are largely driven by changes in circulation and/or ventilation, while changes in solubility are the main driver for the oxygen decrease in the UW and the increases in the LIW and LSW. From 1960 until 2009 the UW, MW, and IW horizons have lost a total of À57 AE 34 Tmol, while the LIW and LSW horizons have gained 46 AE 47 Tmol, integrating to a roughly constant oxygen inventory in the North Atlantic. Comparing our oxygen trends with those of the oceanic heat content, we find an O 2 to heat change ratio of À3.6 AE 2.8 nmol J À1 for the UW, MW and IW, and a ratio of À2.8 AE 3.4 nmol J À1 for the LIW and LSW. These ratios are substantially larger than those expected from solubility alone.

Abstract. The scientific motivation for this study is to understand the processes in the ocean interior controlling carbon transfer across 30 • S. To address this, we have developed a unified framework for understanding the interplay between physical drivers such as buoyancy fluxes and ocean mixing, and carbon-specific processes such as biology, gas exchange and carbon mixing. Given the importance of density in determining the ocean interior structure and circulation, the framework is one that is organized by density and water masses, and it makes combined use of Eulerian and Lagrangian diagnostics. This is achieved through application to a global ice-ocean circulation model and an ocean biogeochemistry model, with both components being part of the widely-used IPSL coupled ocean/atmosphere/carbon cycle model.Our main new result is the dominance of the overturning circulation (identified by water masses) in setting the vertical distribution of carbon transport from the Southern Ocean towards the global ocean. A net contrast emerges between the role of Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW), associated with large northward transport and ingassing, and Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), associated with a much smaller export and outgassing. The differences in their export rate reflects differences in their water mass formation processes. For SAMW, two-thirds of the surface waters are provided as Correspondence to: D. Iudicone (iudicone@szn.it) a result of the densification of thermocline water (TW), and upon densification this water carries with it a substantial diapycnal flux of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). For AAIW, principal formatin processes include buoyancy forcing and mixing, with these serving to lighten CDW. An additional important formation pathway of AAIW is through the effect of interior processing (mixing, including cabelling) that serve to densify SAMW.A quantitative evaluation of the contribution of mixing, biology and gas exchange to the DIC evolution per water mass reveals that mixing and, secondarily, gas exchange, effectively nearly balance biology on annual scales (while the latter process can be dominant at seasonal scale). The distribution of DIC in the northward flowing water at 30 • S is thus primarily set by the DIC values of the water masses that are involved in the formation processes.

Ventilation of Labrador Sea Water (LSW) receives ample attention because of its potential relation to the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Here, we provide an overview of the changes of LSW from observations in the Labrador Sea and from the southern boundary of the subpolar gyre at 47° N. A strong winter-time atmospheric cooling over the Labrador Sea led to intense and deep convection, producing a thick and dense LSW layer as, for instance, in the early to mid-1990s. The weaker convection in the following years mostly ventilated less dense LSW vintages and also reduced the supply of oxygen. As a further consequence, the rate of uptake of anthropogenic carbon by LSW decreased between the two time periods 1996-1999 and 2007-2010 in the western subpolar North Atlantic. In the eastern basins, the rate of increase in anthropogenic carbon became greater due to the delayed advection of LSW that was ventilated in previous years. Starting in winter 2013/2014 and prevailing at least into winter 2015/2016, production of denser and more voluminous LSW resumed. Increasing oxygen signals have already been found in the western boundary current at 47° N. On decadal and shorter time scales, anomalous cold atmospheric conditions over the Labrador Sea lead to an intensification of convection. On multi-decadal time scales, the 'cold blob' in the subpolar North Atlantic projected by climate models in the next 100 years is linked to a weaker AMOC and weaker convection (and thus deoxygenation) in the Labrador Sea.This article is part of the themed issue 'Ocean ventilation and deoxygenation in a warming world'.

The study of salinity changes has been hampered by the lack of temporal and spatial resolution of the observations. In order to improve the spatial and temporal distribution of salinity observations, we used the Gravest Empirical Mode (GEM) technique to calculate high‐resolution salinity distributions as a function of dynamic height for the period 1993–2012. This technique combined Argo and altimeter data to exploit the relationship between T/S profiles and dynamic height in the North Atlantic. The method was valid in the upper 700 m mainly at and near the pathways of the North Atlantic Current (NAC), but failed in regions with weak stratification or with ambiguities in the T/S relationships. Coherent, multiannual large‐scale variability was observed, with many features present in all regions, albeit with weaker amplitudes in the eastern basins. Some of the interannual features in the northeastern Atlantic basins were unrelated to the variability further south and west, pointing to an occasional advection of subtropical water in the eastern Atlantic. Origin and advection of salinity anomalies with the NAC from the North American Basin into the western subpolar North Atlantic are correlated with the state of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and dampened by the surface freshwater fluxes. Other mechanisms influencing the salinity pattern are the changing location of the subpolar front, also related to the NAO. The large multiyear variability in the 20 year time series obscured any potential trends caused by global warming. Only the Rockall Trough showed a salinity increase of 0.03 per decade.