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Interannual variability of carbon dioxide drawdown by subantarctic surface water near New Zealand

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Abstract

The ocean-atmosphere flux of carbon dioxide in subantarctic surface water (SASW) east of New Zealand has been determined using data from bi-monthly cruises on a time series transect for 8 years. The 60 km long transect extends from the coast (45.770°S 170.720°E) to a station at 45.833°S 171.500°E. Sea surface temperature, salinity, nutrient concentrations and pCO2 have been measured at a frequency of about once every 2 months from January 1998 until December 2005. Measured pCO2 exhibits a seasonal cycle with a maximum in late winter/spring, and a minimum in late summer/autumn, a mean 356 μatm, and an amplitude of 9 μatm. The magnitude of ΔpCO2 (the air-sea concentration gradient) has increased over the 8 years, primarily due to the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration. The air-sea flux of CO2 was determined from wind speed data and ΔpCO2. The uptake of atmospheric CO2 by SASW in the study area changed from + 1 and +82 mmol m−2 in 1998 and 1999 respectively (ocean as source) to −870 and −510 mmol m−2 in 2004 and 2005 (ocean as sink). These values are substantially less in magnitude than the value obtained from the Takahashi et al. (Deep-Sea Res II, 2009) flux climatology.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Chris Spiers, master of the R. V. Munida, for assistance with field work. Cliff Law and Murray Smith provided advice on the writing of this manuscript. The Editor and one Anonymous Reviewer are thanked for their constructive criticisms. This research was funded by Foundation for Research, Science and Technology contract CO1X0204.

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  1. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA), Centre for Chemical and Physical Oceanography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Kim I. Currie

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Malcolm R. Reid & Keith A. Hunter

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  1. Kim I. Currie
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Currie, K.I., Reid, M.R. & Hunter, K.A. Interannual variability of carbon dioxide drawdown by subantarctic surface water near New Zealand. Biogeochemistry 104, 23–34 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9355-3

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