Unveiling controls of the latitudinal gradient of surface <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub> in the Kuroshio Extension and its recirculation regions (northwestern North Pacific) in late spring

Chenglong Li; Weidong Zhai; Di Qi

doi:10.1007/s13131-021-1949-1

Volume 41 Issue 5

May 2022

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Chenglong Li, Weidong Zhai, Di Qi. Unveiling controls of the latitudinal gradient of surface pCO2 in the Kuroshio Extension and its recirculation regions (northwestern North Pacific) in late spring[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(5): 110-123. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1949-1

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Chenglong Li, Weidong Zhai, Di Qi. Unveiling controls of the latitudinal gradient of surface pCO₂ in the Kuroshio Extension and its recirculation regions (northwestern North Pacific) in late spring[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(5): 110-123. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1949-1

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Unveiling controls of the latitudinal gradient of surface pCO₂ in the Kuroshio Extension and its recirculation regions (northwestern North Pacific) in late spring

doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1949-1

Chenglong Li¹,
Weidong Zhai^{1
,
,},
Di Qi^{2, 3
,
,}

1.
Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
2.
Polar and Marine Research Institute, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China
3.
Key Laboratory of Global Change and Marine-Atmospheric Chemistry of Ministry of Natural Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen 361005, China

Funds: The Senior User Project of R/V Kexue of the Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. KEXUE2020G07; the Open Fund Project of the State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. LTO1906; the Survey Project of Environmental Radioactivity Detection in the Western Pacific (R/V Xiangyanghong 3) of the Laboratory of Marine Isotopic Technology and Environmental Risk Assessment, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resource.

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: wdzhai@126.com; qidi60@qq.com
Received Date: 2021-05-08
Accepted Date: 2021-08-16

Available Online: 2022-03-28

Publish Date: 2022-05-31

Abstract

Abstract

In the northwestern North Pacific, annual net air-sea CO₂ flux is greatest in the Kuroshio Extension (KE) zone, owing to its low annual mean partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂), and it decreases southward across the basin. To quantify the influences of factors controlling the latitudinal gradient in CO₂ uptake, sea surface pCO₂ and related parameters were investigated in late spring of 2018 in a study spanning the KE, Kuroshio Recirculation (KR), and subtropical zones. We found that the sea-to-air pCO₂ difference (ΔpCO₂) was negative and at its lowest in the KE zone. ΔpCO₂ gradually increased southward across the KR zone, and the sea surface was nearly in air-equilibrium with atmospheric CO₂ in the subtropical zone. We found that northward cooling and vertical mixing were the two major processes governing the latitudinal gradient in surface pCO₂ and ΔpCO₂, while biological influences were relatively minor. In the KE zone affected by upwelling, the vertical-mixing-induced increase in surface pCO₂ likely canceled out approximately 61% of the decrease in surface pCO₂ caused by cooling and biological activities. Moreover, the prolonged air-sea equilibration for CO₂ and relatively short hydraulic retention time jointly led to the low surface pCO₂ in the KE zone in spring. Ultimately, the cooling KE current flows out of the region before it can be re-equilibrated with atmospheric CO₂.
- partial pressure of CO₂,
- temperature effect,
- vertical mixing,
- biological activity,
- air-sea exchange,
- northwestern North Pacific

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References(67)

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