Anthropogenic carbon dioxide transport in the Southern Ocean driven by Ekman flow

T. Ito (), M. Woloszyn and M. Mazloff
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T. Ito: Colorado State University, 1371 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1371, USA
M. Woloszyn: Colorado State University, 1371 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1371, USA
M. Mazloff: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0230, USA

Nature, 2010, vol. 463, issue 7277, 80-83

Abstract: Where did that CO2 go? Modelling studies suggest that more than 40% of the carbon dioxide produced from fossil fuels is taken up by the Southern Ocean, yet observations suggest that relatively little CO2 is retained there. Takamitsu Ito and colleagues use a high-resolution circulation and carbon cycle model to investigate the mechanisms controlling the fate of carbon in the Southern Ocean sink on a timescale of two years. They find that the primary mechanism for moving anthropogenic carbon dioxide is Ekman transport — a wind-driven surface current — but that there is also a complex interplay between Ekman flow, ocean eddies and the subduction of water masses. The analysis reveals intimate connections between carbon uptake by the ocean and climate variability through the variability of Ekman transport with time.

Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08687

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