Inter-annual variability of the carbon dioxide oceanic sink south of Tasmania

Abstract

We compiled a large data-set from 22 cruises spanning from 1991 to 2003, of the partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) in surface waters over the continental shelf (CS) and adjacent open ocean (43° to 46° S; 145° to 150° E), south of Tasmania. Climatological seasonal cycles of pCO₂ in the CS, the subtropical zone (STZ) and the subAntarctic zone (SAZ) are described and used to determine monthly pCO₂ anomalies. These are used in combination with monthly anomalies of sea surface temperature (SST) to investigate inter-annual variations of SST and pCO₂. Monthly anomalies of SST (as intense as 2°C) are apparent in the CS, STZ and SAZ, and are indicative of strong inter-annual variability that seems to be related to large-scale coupled atmosphere-ocean oscillations. Anomalies of pCO₂ normalized to a constant temperature are negatively related to SST anomalies. A reduced winter-time vertical input of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) during phases of positive SST anomalies, related to a poleward shift of westerly winds, and a concomitant local decrease in wind stress is the likely cause of the negative relationship between pCO₂ and SST anomalies. The observed pattern is an increase of the sink for atmospheric CO₂ associated with positive SST anomalies, although strongly modulated by inter-annual variability of wind speed. Assuming that phases of positive SST anomalies are indicative of the future evolution of regional ocean biogeochemistry under global warming, we show using a purely observational based approach that some provinces of the Southern Ocean could provide a potential negative feedback on increasing atmospheric CO₂.