Abstract
The measurement of the surface molar fraction of CO 2 (atmosphere and sea water) and water column pH T , total alkalinity, A T , nutrients and oxygen were carried out in spring 2000 at the European Station for Time Series in the Ocean at the Canary Islands (ESTOC) and in the area located south of the Canary Islands. The significant eddy field strongly affecting the pattern of the chemical and carbonate system variables is presented and discussed. A mixing model based on the thermohaline properties of the water masses was established. The model explained over 97% of the variability found in the distribution of the chemical variables. Intermediate waters to the south of the Canary Islands show a high contribution of Antarctic waters with about 5% of pure Antarctic Intermediate Water. Moreover, the surface structure affected the atmosphere-ocean carbon dioxide exchange, making the area act as a CO 2 sink taking up 9.1 mmol m -2 week -1 , corresponding to 0.03 Mt of CO 2 which were taken up by the area in a week at the end of March 2000.
Highlights
The oceans have been divided into domains and provinces according to their ecological and physical features (Longhurst, 1998)
The strong upwelling cells located at Capes Juby and Bojador affected the area due to the generation of filaments reaching the field of eddies and interacting with them
The application of a simple mixing model for the water masses found to the south of the Canary Islands in March 2000 explained more than 96% of the chemical variability
Summary
The oceans have been divided into domains and provinces according to their ecological and physical features (Longhurst, 1998). The Canary Islands region is located in the westerly domain corresponding to the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre province (NASE). This region is a transitional zone between the northwestern African coastal upwelling region and the open ocean oligotrophic waters of the subtropical gyre. It is well known that the eastward flowing of the Azores Current splits into several southward branches (Reid, 1994). The branch which always flows eastward into the coastal upwelling region off northwest Africa is identified as the Canary Current. The islands present a barrier to this relatively weak equatorward flow of the Canary Current and to the flow of the trade winds due to the abrupt topography of the islands, which leads
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