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Mesoscale eddies enhance the air-sea CO2 sink in the South Atlantic Ocean
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  • Daniel J Ford,
  • Gavin H Tilstone,
  • Jamie Shutler,
  • Vassilis Kitidis,
  • Katy Louise Sheen,
  • Giorgio Dall'Olmo,
  • Iole Beatriz Marques Orselli
Daniel J Ford
University of Exeter

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gavin H Tilstone
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
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Jamie Shutler
University of Exeter
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Vassilis Kitidis
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
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Katy Louise Sheen
University of Exeter
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Giorgio Dall'Olmo
OGS
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Iole Beatriz Marques Orselli
FURG
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Abstract

Mesoscale eddies are abundant in the global oceans and known to affect marine biogeochemistry. Understanding their cumulative impact on the air-sea carbon dioxide (CO2) flux is likely important for quantifying the ocean carbon sink. Here, observations and Lagrangian tracking are used to estimate the air-sea CO2 flux of 67 long lived (i.e. > 1 year) mesoscale eddies in the South Atlantic Ocean over a 16 year period. We find that anticyclonic eddies originating from the Agulhas retroflection and cyclonic eddies originating from the Benguela upwelling act as net CO2 sinks over their lifetimes. In combination, the eddies significantly enhanced the CO2 sink into the South Atlantic Ocean by 0.08 ± 0.01%. Although this modification appears small, long lived eddies account for just ~0.4% of global ocean eddies and eddy activity is increasing; therefore, explicitly resolving eddy processes within all models used to assess the ocean carbon sink would appear critical.
16 May 2023Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 50 issue 9. 10.1029/2022GL102137