title: Enhanced open ocean storage of CO2 from shelf sea pumping.
abstract: Seasonal field observations show that the North Sea, a Northern European shelf sea, is highly efficient in pumping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the North Atlantic Ocean. The bottom topography-controlled stratification separates production and respiration processes in the North Sea, causing a carbon dioxide increase in the subsurface layer that is ultimately exported to the North Atlantic Ocean. Globally extrapolated, the net uptake of carbon dioxide by coastal and marginal seas is about 20% of the world ocean's uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, thus enhancing substantially the open ocean carbon dioxide storage.
authors.affiliation: Department for Marine Chemistry and Geology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Post Office Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands. hthomas@nioz.nl
authors.forename: Helmuth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bozec
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Elkalay
authors.forename: Hein J W
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: de Baar
mesh_terms: D001272:Atmosphere; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D020387:Food Chain; D009659:North Sea; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide