On the influence of interseasonal sea surface temperature on surface water pCO2 at 49.0N/16.5W and 56.5N/52.6W in the North Atlantic Ocean

The sea surface temperature (SST) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) derived from hourly in situ measurements at Northwest (56.5°N, 52.6°W) and Northeast (49.0°N, 16.5°W) subpolar sites of the Atlantic Ocean from 2003 – 2005 were employed to investigate the seasonal pCO2–SST relationship. The results indicate weak to moderately strong significant negative relationships (r = -0.04 to -0.89, p<0.0001) and (r = -0.56 to -0.97, p<0.0001) between SST and pCO2 for the Northeast and Northwest observed data respectively. At the Northwestern site, the variation in surface water pCO2 might be partly controlled by the seasonal change in SST as well as biological activities and other physical processes. The variability in pCO2 distribution at the Northeastern oceanographic site were attributed principally to mixing and stratification processes during the autumn and spring seasons, while the pCO2–SST interrelationship obtained during summertime suggested that pCO2 variability could have been induced mainly by thermodynamic effects.