Air—sea C02 transfer and the carbon budget of the North Atlantic

Abstract A model simulation of the global carbon cycle demonstrates that the biological and solubility pumps are of comparable importance in determining the spatial distribution of annual mean air-sea fluxes in the Atlantic. The model also confirms that the impact of the (steady state) biological pump on the magnitude and spatial distribution of anthropogenic CO2 uptake is minimal. An Atlantic Ocean carbon budget developed from analysis of the model combined with observations suggests that the air-sea flux of carbon is inadequate to supply the postulated large dissolved inorganic carbon export from the Atlantic. Other sources of carbon are required, such as an input from the Pacific via the Bering Strait and Arctic, river inflow, or an import of dissolved organic carbon.