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Contrasting Carbon Dioxide Inputs and Exchange in Three Adjacent New England Estuaries

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Abstract

Four surveys of the adjacent Cocheco, Bellamy, and Oyster estuaries reveal spatial heterogeneity with respect both to river-born carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes and CO2 exchange with the atmosphere (−17 to 51 mmol m−2 day−1), a finding partially explained by CO2 inputs from contributing watersheds. Nonuniform nutrient and organic carbon loading from upstream rivers and within the estuaries is considered as a mechanism resulting in the variability between estuaries. Conditions during the surveys included spring river runoff and phytoplankton blooms, drought with baseline river flow, and a historic flood which led to a large CO2 release to the atmosphere. This study highlights the variability of CO2 transport and release found between proximate estuaries over a wide range of flow conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NASA Carbon—NNX08AL8OG and NOAA Joint Center for Ocean Observation Technology—NA05NOS4731206. We thank associate editor A.V. Borges and four anonymous reviewers for numerous insightful suggestions which greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Christopher W. Hunt, Joseph E. Salisbury & Douglas Vandemark

  2. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Wade McGillis

  3. Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Wade McGillis

Authors
  1. Christopher W. Hunt
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  2. Joseph E. Salisbury
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  3. Douglas Vandemark
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  4. Wade McGillis
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Correspondence to Christopher W. Hunt.

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Hunt, C.W., Salisbury, J.E., Vandemark, D. et al. Contrasting Carbon Dioxide Inputs and Exchange in Three Adjacent New England Estuaries. Estuaries and Coasts 34, 68–77 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9299-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9299-9

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