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Comparison of CO2 Dynamics and Air–Sea Gas Exchange in Differing Tropical Reef Environments

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Abstract

An array of MAPCO2 buoys, CRIMP-2, Ala Wai, and Kilo Nalu, deployed in the coastal waters of Hawaii, have produced multi-year high temporal resolution CO2 records in three different coral reef environments off the island of Oahu, Hawaii. This study, which includes data from June 2008 to December 2011, is part of an integrated effort to understand the factors that influence the dynamics of CO2–carbonic acid system parameters in waters surrounding Pacific high-island coral reef ecosystems and subject to differing natural and anthropogenic stresses. The MAPCO2 buoys are located on the Kaneohe Bay backreef, and fringing reef sites on the south shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The buoys measure CO2 and O2 in seawater and in the atmosphere at 3-h intervals, as well as other physical and biogeochemical parameters (conductivity, temperature, depth, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity). The buoy records, combined with data from synoptic spatial sampling, have allowed us to examine the interplay between biological cycles of productivity/respiration and calcification/dissolution and biogeochemical and physical forcings on hourly to inter-annual time scales. Air–sea CO2 gas exchange was also calculated to determine whether the locations were sources or sinks of CO2 over seasonal, annual, and interannual time periods. Net annualized fluxes for CRIMP-2, Ala Wai, and Kilo Nalu over the entire study period were 1.15, 0.045, and −0.0056 mol C m−2 year−1, respectively, where positive values indicate a source or a CO2 flux from the water to the atmosphere, and negative values indicate a sink or flux of CO2 from the atmosphere into the water. These values are of similar magnitude to previous estimates in Kaneohe Bay as well as those reported from other tropical reef environments. Total alkalinity (AT) was measured in conjunction with pCO2, and the carbonic acid system was calculated to compare with other reef systems and open ocean values around Hawaii. These findings emphasize the need for high-resolution data of multiple parameters when attempting to characterize the carbonic acid system in locations of highly variable physical, chemical, and biological parameters (e.g., coastal systems and reefs).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), including Dr. Jo Ann Leong, director of HIMB, and her support staff of Jim Lakey, Stan Ige, Fritz King, and Darren Oshiro. Our work in Kaneohe Bay could not have been completed without their ongoing help and cooperation, as well as the assistance of the engineering and technical personnel at NOAA/PMEL, in particular Stacy Maenner-Jones, Hendrick Miller, Sylvia Musielewicz, and Noah Lawrence-Slavas. We would also like to thank Jeff Jaegger, Jason Jones, and Robert Thompson for their assistance with boat operations and sample analysis as well as the two reviewers whose comments substantially improved this manuscript. This work was supported in part by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Project R/IR-3, which is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, SOEST, under Institutional Grant No. NA09OAR4170060 from NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. Funding was also provided by Pac-IOOS in support of the MAP-CO2 monitoring program. This is UNIHI-Sea Grant Contribution JC-12-28 and SOEST Contribution No. 8958.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Patrick S. Drupp, Eric Heinen De Carlo & Fred T. Mackenzie

  2. NOAA/PMEL, 7600 Sand Point Way, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA

    Christopher L. Sabine & Richard A. Feely

  3. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Kathryn E. Shamberger

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  1. Patrick S. Drupp
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Correspondence to Patrick S. Drupp.

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Drupp, P.S., De Carlo, E.H., Mackenzie, F.T. et al. Comparison of CO2 Dynamics and Air–Sea Gas Exchange in Differing Tropical Reef Environments. Aquat Geochem 19, 371–397 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-013-9214-7

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