Meridional transport of dissolved inorganic carbon in the South Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Abstract. The meridional oceanic transports of dissolved inorganic carbon and oxygen were calculated using six transoceanic sections occupied in the South Atlantic between 11 øS and 30øS. The total dissolved inorganic carbon (TCO2) data were interpolated onto conductivity-temperature-depth data to obtain a high-resolution data set, and Ekman, depth-dependent and depth-independent components of the transport were estimated. Uncertainties in the depth-independent velocity distribution were reduced using an inverse model. The inorganic carbon transport between 11 øS and 30øS was southward,

Global ocean storage of anthropogenic carbon

“…The transports from the ocean inversion, forward OGCMs, and hydrographic transects have similar large-scale features in the Atlantic, with substantial northward transport occurring throughout the Southern Hemisphere and tropics. The transport across 31 • S estimated by Holfort et al (1998) is substantially smaller than that estimated by the ocean inversion techniques, while that estimated by Holfort et al (1998) across 20 • S is in agreement with this approach. The North Atlantic transport estimates of Rosón et al (2003) and Macdonald et al (2003) are larger than those from the ocean inversion, but not unreasonably so given the large uncertainties in the hydrographic estimates and difficulties comparing the two techniques directly.…”

“…which the calculation of the Green function and C ant was repeated by randomly sampling the various parameters used in the inversion from a uniform distribution centered about its observed value and width equal to the reported uncertainty. This approach combined with the entropic uncertainty leads to a (spatially variable) uncertainty between ±2 and (Holfort et al, 1998;Rosón et al, 2003;Macdonald et al, 2003;Lundberg and Haugan, 1996). Errors in individual C ant estimates propagate into uncertainty in column and regional inventories.…”

“…Transport of anthropogenic CO 2 along ship transects can also be estimated from hydrographic data and data-based anthropogenic CO 2 estimates (e.g., Lundberg and Haugan, 1996;Holfort et al, 1998;Álvarez et al, 2003;Macdonald et al, 2003;Rosón et al, 2003;Álvarez and Gourcuff, 2010). This approach has been widely used in the Atlantic, and a number of these transect-based estimates have been included in Fig.…”

Carbon Dioxide, Hydrographic, and Chemical Data Obtained During the R/V Meteor Cruise 28/1 in the South Atlantic Ocean (WOCE Section A8, March 29 - May 12, 1994)

“…This concluding section in the subtropical South Atlantic Ocean is especially relevant to CO 2 transport because it crosses both the Brazil and the Benguela Boundary Currents. An analysis of these data has been published in Holfort et al (1998).…”

“…Although total carbon dioxide (TCO 2 ) was not an official WOCE measurement, a coordinated effort, supported in the United States by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was made on WOCE cruises through 1998 to measure the global, spatial, and temporal distributions of TCO 2 and other related parameters. The two primary objectives of this effort were to estimate the meridional transport of inorganic carbon in a manner analogous to the estimates of oceanic heat transport (Bryden and Hall 1980;Brewer et al 1989;Holfort et al 1998;Roemmich and Wunsch 1985) and to build a database suitable for carbon-cycle modeling and the estimation of anthropogenic CO 2 increase in the oceans. The CO 2 Survey took advantage of the sampling opportunities provided by the WHP cruises during this period, and the final data set is expected to cover on the order of 23,000 stations.…”