Air-sea exchange of CO2 in the central and western equatorial Pacific in 1990

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Abstract
Measurements of CO2 in marine boundary air and in surface seawater of the central and western Pacific west of 150°W were made during the period from September to December 1990. The meridional section along 150°W showed pCO2(sea) maximum over 410 µatm between the equator and 3°S due to strong equatorial upwelling. In the equatorial Pacific between 150°W and 179°E, pCO2(sea) decreased gradually toward the west as a result of biological CO2 uptake and surface sea temperature increase. Between 179°E and 170°E, the pCO2(sea) decreased steeply from 400 µatm to 350 µatm along with a decrease of salinity. West of 170°E, where the salinity is low owing to the heavy rainfall, pCO2(sea) was nearly equal to pCO2(air). The distribution of the atmospheric CO2 concentration showed a considerable variability (± 3 ppm) in the area north of the Intertropical Convergence Zone due to the regional net source-sink strength of the terrestrial biosphere. The net CO2 flux from the sea to the atmosphere in the equatorial region of the central and western Pacific (15°S−10°N, 140°E−150°W) was evaluated from the ΔpCO2 distribution and the several gas transfer coefficients reported so far. It ranged from 0.13 GtC year-1−0.29 GtC year-1. This CO2 outflux is thought to almost disappear during the period of an El Niño event. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.47.issue4.5.x

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