Biogeochemical River Runoff Drives Intense Coastal Arctic Ocean CO2 Outgassing

Abstract

Abstract Arctic warming alters land‐to‐sea fluxes of nutrients and organic matter, which impact air‐sea carbon exchange. Here we use an ocean‐biogeochemical model of the southeastern Beaufort Sea (SBS) to investigate the role of Mackenzie River biogeochemical discharge in modulating air‐sea CO2 fluxes during 2000–2019. The contribution of six biogeochemical discharge constituents leads to a net CO2 outgassing of 0.13 TgC yr−1, with a decrease in the coastal SBS carbon sink of 0.23 and 0.4 TgC yr−1 due to riverine dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, respectively. Years with high (low) discharge promote more CO2 outgassing (uptake) from the river plume. These results demonstrate that the Mackenzie River modulates the capacity of the SBS to act as a sink or source of atmospheric CO2. Our work suggests that accurate model representation of land‐to‐sea biogeochemical coupling can be critical for assessing present‐day Arctic coastal ocean response to the rapidly changing environment.