Annual cycle of carbonate chemistry and decadal acidification change in coastal Prydz Bay, East Antarctica

Nick Roden – PhD confirmation seminar
Venue:  IMAS seminar room
Date:  8 June 2012  3:00 PM

 

Abstract: 
The carbon cycle and the transport of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to the ocean is an important issue in climate research.  Globally, the role of the coastal ocean in the carbon cycle is poorly constrained, particularly in seasonally ice-covered regions.  This is due largely, to a lack of field measurements.  The uptake by the ocean of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere lowers the pH and the dissolved carbonate ion concentration of seawater, causing ocean acidification.  The Antarctic shelf supports a disproportionately large fraction of Southern Ocean productivity, and is vulnerable to anthropogenic acidification.  A full annual cycle of inorganic carbon system observations, collected over a ten-month period in 2010 and 2011, at a coastal site in Prydz Bay (East Antarctica) is presented.  Observations indicate that seasonal changes in the carbonate system are dominated by sea-ice melt/formation, net community production and air-sea CO2 exchange.  Additionally these data are compared to a second set of annual observations at the same site, made 16 years earlier.  For the first time, these observations allow an assessment of decadal changes in carbonate chemistry, and acidification, in the Antarctic seasonal sea ice zone.


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