| Abstract: The anthropogenic CO2 in
the Atlantic Ocean is separated from the large natural variability of dissolved
inorganic carbon using the method developed by Gruber et al. [1996].
Surface concentrations of anthropogenic CO2 are
found to be highest in the tropical to subtropical regions and to decrease
toward the high latitudes. They are very close to what is expected from
thermodynamic considerations assuming that the surface ocean followed the
atmospheric CO2 perturbation. Highest specific
inventories (inventory per square meter) of anthropogenic CO2
occur in the subtropical convergence zones. Large differences exist
between the North and South Atlantic high latitudes: In the North Atlantic,
anthropogenic CO2 has already invaded deeply
into the interior; north of 50 degrees N it has even reached the bottom.
By contrast, waters south of 50 degrees S contain relatively little anthropogenic
CO2 , and hence specific inventories are
very low. An anthropogenic CO2 inventory
of about 22 ± 5 Gt C is estimated for the Atlantic north of the
equator for 1982, and 18 ± 4 Gt C is estimated for the Atlantic
south of the equator for 1989. The Princeton ocean biogeochemistry model
predicts anthropogenic CO2 inventories
of 20.0 Gt C (North Atlantic, 1982) and 17.7 Gt C (South Atlantic, 1989)
for the same regions in good agreement with the observed inventories. Important
differences exist on a more regional scale, associated with known deficiencies
of the model. |