Technical report submitted to the Department of Energy, Washington, DC on determination of net CO/sub 2/ flux across air-sea interface

Technical Report · Fri Jul 08 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5914510

Takahashi, T; Chipman, D; Smethie, W Jr

The net CO/sub 2/ flux across the air-sea interface has been determined in December, 1982, in the Caribbean Sea and the tropical North Atlantic Ocean using the pCO/sub 2/ and radon-222 methods. The thermodynamic driving force for CO/sub 2/ gas transfer has been characterized in terms of the difference between the CO/sub 2/ partial pressures, pCO/sub 2/, in the surface ocean water and the overlying atmosphere, and the gas exchange coefficient (expressed in terms of the piston velocity) has been estimated on the basis of the vertical distribution of radon-222 gas in the upper 200 meters of water column. The net CO/sub 2/ flux across the air-sea interface has been computed using these two quantities. The areas north of the 10/sup 0/N parallel are a CO/sub 2/ sink area, where a net CO/sub 2/ flux ranging from 0 to about 1 mole CO/sub 2//m/sup 2/ y (from air to sea) has been observed. This compares with the global mean net CO/sub 2/ flux of about 0.6 mole CO/sub 2//m/sup 2/ y (from air to sea). On the other hand, the areas south of 10/sup 0/N are a CO/sub 2/ source area. The sea-to-air net flux of as high as 3 moles CO/sub 2//m/sup 2/ y has been observed east of the mouth of the Amazon River. Although the equatorial surface water exhibited high pCO/sub 2/ values, the gas exchange piston velocity was small particularly in the doldrum, and hence the net CO/sub 2/ flux values ranging between 1 and 2 moles CO/sub 2//m/sup 2/ y were observed.

• Research Organization: Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (USA). Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-81ER60000
• OSTI ID: 5914510
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/60000-T1; ON: DE83015577
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR-WATER INTERACTIONS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON CYCLE
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CARIBBEAN SEA
CHALCOGENIDES
DATA
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HEAVY NUCLEI
INFORMATION
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTIAL PRESSURE
RADIOISOTOPES
RADON 222
RADON ISOTOPES
SEAS
SINKS
SURFACE WATERS
THERMODYNAMICS
TRACER TECHNIQUES