Ocean carbon variability and change constrained by seawater pCO2 time series observations
Abstract
Accurately characterizing the magnitude and timing of ocean carbon uptake variability is a challenge to both model and observation-based assessments. Time series observations available for constraining this temporal variability now exist beyond the iconic ocean time series of HOTS and BATS. Specifically, high-frequency surface ocean pCO2 observations on buoys exist in every ocean basin, nearly all gyre-scale biomes and biogeochemical provinces, and in coastal ecosystems. These time series constrain sub-seasonal to interannual variability of surface ocean pCO2 and CO2 flux, which is in general, more variable than ocean model simulations. This variability impacts the ability to detect long-term trends, especially in coastal oceans where the time of anthropogenic trend emergence of surface ocean pCO2 and pH can be more than 40 years. Large coastal ocean variability means that present day ocean carbon conditions still overlap with pre-industrial conditions; however, some locations now surpass known biological thresholds of aragonite saturation state at a seasonal scale. This presentation will center around these and other results of ocean carbon time series data synthesis and the opportunities for improving constraint of variability using models and observations.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMOS41B2000S
- Keywords:
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- 4805 Biogeochemical cycles;
- processes;
- and modeling;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICALDE: 4806 Carbon cycling;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICALDE: 4813 Ecological prediction;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICALDE: 4815 Ecosystems;
- structure;
- dynamics;
- and modeling;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL