title: Decrease in the CO2 uptake capacity in an ice-free Arctic Ocean basin.
abstract: It has been predicted that the Arctic Ocean will sequester much greater amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere as a result of sea ice melt and increasing primary productivity. However, this prediction was made on the basis of observations from either highly productive ocean margins or ice-covered basins before the recent major ice retreat. We report here a high-resolution survey of sea-surface CO2 concentration across the Canada Basin, showing a great increase relative to earlier observations. Rapid CO2 invasion from the atmosphere and low biological CO2 drawdown are the main causes for the higher CO2, which also acts as a barrier to further CO2 invasion. Contrary to the current view, we predict that the Arctic Ocean basin will not become a large atmospheric CO2 sink under ice-free conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. wcai@uga.edu
authors.forename: Wei-Jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Liqi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Baoshan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhongyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Sang H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jianfang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pierrot
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Yongchen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xinping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Wei-Jen
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yuanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Suqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Jacqueline M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grebmeier
authors.forename: E Peter
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Haisheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D001272:Atmosphere; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D046448:Ice Cover; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide