CO2 fluxes across the air‐sea interface in the southeastern Beaufort Sea: Ice‐free period

Abstract

Surface mixed layer CO2 fugacities (fCO2‐sw) calculated from carbonate system parameters in the southeastern Beaufort Sea during the ice‐free period ranged from 240 to 350 μatm in fall 2003 and from 175 to 515 μatm in summer 2004. The surface mixed layer remains mostly undersaturated with respect to atmospheric CO2 (378 μatm) and, therefore, acts as a potential CO2 sink throughout this period. Air‐sea CO2 fluxes (FCO2) were first computed assuming ice‐free conditions and ranged from −32.4 to +8.6 mmol m−2 d−1 in fall 2003 and summer 2004, respectively. Then we included a reduction factor to account for ice cover (ic) and we computed the resulting fluxes (FCO2‐ic). In fall 2003, FCO2‐ic ranged from −4.7 mmol m−2 d−1 in the relatively open water of the Cape Bathurst Polynya to −0.1 mmol m−2 d−1 in the southeastern Beaufort Sea, limited by the presence of the multiyear sea ice. In summer 2004, FCO2‐ic ranged from −13.1 mmol m−2 d−1 on the western Mackenzie Shelf to +8.6 mmol m−2 d−1 at Cape Bathurst; the variability being ascribed to competing effects of vertical mixing, temperature variations, and possibly biological production. On average, a net sink of −2.3 ± 3.5 mmol m−2 d−1 was estimated for the ice‐free period over the study area. Nevertheless, the FCO2 displays strong variability due to ice coverage, freshwater input, and upwelling events. The potential responses (direction and intensity of potential feedbacks) of the carbon cycle in the study area to a changing Arctic climate are discussed.