Evaluation of the sinks and sources of atmospheric CO2 by artificial upwelling

Abstract

Artificial upwelling is considered a promising way to reduce the accumulation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This practice could transport nutrient-rich deep water to the euphotic zone, enhance phytoplankton growth and consequently increase organic carbon exportation to the deep ocean via the biological pump. However, only a few studies quantitatively assess changes in oceanic CO2 uptake resulting from artificial upwelling. This article uses a simulation to examine the effect of hypothetical artificial upwelling-induced variations of CO2 fugacity in seawater (fCO2) using observed carbon and nutrient data from 14 stations, ranging from 21 to 43°N, in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the East China Sea (ECS) and the Sea of Japan. Calculations are based on two basic assumptions: First, a near-field mixing of a nutrient-rich deep-ocean water plume in a stratified ocean environment is assumed to form given the presence of an artificial upwelling devise with appropriate technical parameters. Second, it is assumed that photosynthesis of marine phytoplankton could deplete all available nutrients following the stoichiometry of the modified Redfield ratio C/H/O/N/S/P=103.1/181.7/93.4/11.7/2.1/1. Results suggest artificial upwelling has significant effects on regional changes in sea–air differences (ΔfCO2sea–air) and the carbon sequestration potential (ΔfCO2mixed‐amb). Large variations of ΔfCO2sea–air and ΔfCO2mixed‐amb are shown to be associated with different regions, seasons and technical parameters of the artificial upwelling device. With proper design, it is possible to reverse the contribution of artificial upwelling from a strong CO2 source to sink. Thus, artificial upwelling has the potential to succeed as a geoengineering technique to sequester anthropogenic CO2, with appropriate technical parameters in the right region and season.