Comparison of the August - September 1991 and 1979 Surface
Partial Pressure of CO2 Distribution in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Near 150°W.
C. Goyet and E. T. Peltzer
Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry
Department
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutiton
Woods Hole, MA
02543
Marine Chemistry (1994) 45: 257-266.
Received: 16 April 1993.
Accepted: 4 October 1993.
ABSTRACT
The partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2)
in the surface seawater and marine air from 17°S to 22°N near 151°W
(WOCE leg P-16c) during the period from August 31 to September 29, 1991, were measured
continually. The surface seawater pCO2 showed large
latitudinal variation with a maximum of 425 µatm near the equator. These results
are compared with pCO2 measurements in 1979, in the same
area and same months. The short-scale (temporal and spatial) variations in surface
seawater pCO2 (±6.1 µatm) do not allow us to
unequivocally quantify the variation in delta-pCO2
(pCO2sea - pCO2air) between
the years 1979 and 1991 due to oceanic uptake of fossil fuel CO2.
However, the data suggest that this ocean area might be a stronger source of
CO2 for the atmosphere than may be expected from results of
ocean models.
Acknowledgements
We thank the captain and the crew of the R/V Thomas Washington for
their cooperation during the sampling cruise; the National Science Foundation
and in particular N. Andersen for their support; F. J. Millero and P. G. Brewer
for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript; R. Weiss for
his 1979 data set and for many stimulating discussions; and C. S. Wong and R. Feely
for their constructive reviews. This work was supported by the Department of
Energy under grant DE-FG-02ER60980 and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration grant NAGW-2431.
This is contribution number 8198 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
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