Dataset Information

Winter weather controls net influx of atmospheric CO₂ on the north-west European shelf.

ABSTRACT: Shelf seas play an important role in the global carbon cycle, absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) and exporting carbon (C) to the open ocean and sediments. The magnitude of these processes is poorly constrained, because observations are typically interpolated over multiple years. Here, we used 298500 observations of CO₂ fugacity (fCO₂) from a single year (2015), to estimate the net influx of atmospheric CO₂ as 26.2?±?4.7 Tg C yr^-1 over the open NW European shelf. CO₂ influx from the atmosphere was dominated by influx during winter as a consequence of high winds, despite a smaller, thermally-driven, air-sea fCO₂ gradient compared to the larger, biologically-driven summer gradient. In order to understand this climate regulation service, we constructed a carbon-budget supplemented by data from the literature, where the NW European shelf is treated as a box with carbon entering and leaving the box. This budget showed that net C-burial was a small sink of 1.3?±?3.1 Tg C yr^-1, while CO₂ efflux from estuaries to the atmosphere, removed the majority of river C-inputs. In contrast, the input from the Baltic Sea likely contributes to net export via the continental shelf pump and advection (34.4?±?6.0 Tg C yr^-1).

SUBMITTER: Kitidis V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6934492 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Winter weather controls net influx of atmospheric CO2 on the north-west European shelf.

Kitidis Vassilis V Shutler Jamie D JD Ashton Ian I Warren Mark M Brown Ian I Findlay Helen H Hartman Sue E SE Sanders Richard R Humphreys Matthew M Kivimäe Caroline C Greenwood Naomi N Hull Tom T Pearce David D McGrath Triona T Stewart Brian M BM Walsham Pamela P McGovern Evin E Bozec Yann Y Gac Jean-Philippe JP van Heuven Steven M A C SMAC Hoppema Mario M Schuster Ute U Johannessen Truls T Omar Abdirahman A Lauvset Siv K SK Skjelvan Ingunn I Olsen Are A Steinhoff Tobias T Körtzinger Arne A Becker Meike M Lefevre Nathalie N Diverrès Denis D Gkritzalis Thanos T Cattrijsse André A Petersen Wilhelm W Voynova Yoana G YG Chapron Bertrand B Grouazel Antoine A Land Peter E PE Sharples Jonathan J Nightingale Philip D PD

Scientific reports 20191227 1

Shelf seas play an important role in the global carbon cycle, absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and exporting carbon (C) to the open ocean and sediments. The magnitude of these processes is poorly constrained, because observations are typically interpolated over multiple years. Here, we used 298500 observations of CO2 fugacity (fCO2) from a single year (2015), to estimate the net influx of atmospheric CO2 as 26.2 ± 4.7 Tg C yr-1 ove ...[more]

PMID: 31882779

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Project description:The edge of the North West European Shelf (NWES) is characterised by a steep continental slope and a northward flowing slope current. These topographic/hydrographic features separate oceanic water and shelf water masses hence potentially separate phytoplankton communities. The slope current may facilitate the advective transport of phytoplankton, with mixing at the shelf edge supporting nutrient supply and therefore phytoplankton production. On the west Scottish shelf in particular, little is known about the phytoplankton communities in and around the shelf break and adjacent waters. Hence, to improve our understanding of environmental drivers of phytoplankton communities, biological and environmental data were collected on seven cross-shelf transects across the Malin and Hebridean Shelves during autumn 2014. Density profiles indicated that shelf break and oceanic stations had a 100 m deep mixed surface layer while stations on the shelf were generally well mixed. Analysis of similarity and multidimensional scaling of phytoplankton counts revealed that phytoplankton communities on the shelf were significantly different to those found at the shelf break and at oceanic stations. Shelf stations were dominated by dinoflagellates, with diatoms contributing a maximum of 37% of cells. Shelf break and oceanic stations were also dinoflagellate dominated but displayed a lower species diversity. Significant difference between shelf and shelf break stations suggested that the continental slope limited cross shelf phytoplankton exchange. Northern and southern phytoplankton communities on the shelf were approximately 15% dissimilar while there was no latitudinal gradient for stations along the slope current, suggesting this current provided south to north connectivity. Fitting environmental data to phytoplankton ordination showed a significant relationship between phytoplankton community dissimilarities and nutrient concentrations and light availability on the shelf compared to shelf break and oceanic stations in the study area.

Project description:Phytoplankton underpin the marine food web in shelf seas, with some species having properties that are harmful to human health and coastal aquaculture. Pressures such as climate change and anthropogenic nutrient input are hypothesized to influence phytoplankton community composition and distribution. Yet the primary environmental drivers in shelf seas are poorly understood. To begin to address this in North Western European waters, the phytoplankton community composition was assessed in light of measured physical and chemical drivers during the "Ellett Line" cruise of autumn 2001 across the Scottish Continental shelf and into adjacent open Atlantic waters. Spatial variability existed in both phytoplankton and environmental conditions, with clear differences not only between on and off shelf stations but also between different on shelf locations. Temperature/salinity plots demonstrated different water masses existed in the region. In turn, principal component analysis (PCA), of the measured environmental conditions (temperature, salinity, water density and inorganic nutrient concentrations) clearly discriminated between shelf and oceanic stations on the basis of DIN:DSi ratio that was correlated with both salinity and temperature. Discrimination between shelf stations was also related to this ratio, but also the concentration of DIN and DSi. The phytoplankton community was diatom dominated, with multidimensional scaling (MDS) demonstrating spatial variability in its composition. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to investigate the link between environment and the phytoplankton community. This demonstrated a significant relationship between community composition and water mass as indexed by salinity (whole community), and both salinity and DIN:DSi (diatoms alone). Diatoms of the Pseudo-nitzschia seriata group occurred at densities potentially harmful to shellfish aquaculture, with the potential for toxicity being elevated by the likelihood of DSi limitation of growth at most stations and depths.

Dataset Information

Winter weather controls net influx of atmospheric CO₂ on the north-west European shelf.

Publications

Winter weather controls net influx of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> on the north-west European shelf.

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