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Impact of the Blob on the Northeast Pacific Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems

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Impact of the Blob on the Northeast Pacific Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems IMPACT OF THE BLOB ON THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND ECOSYSTEMS Samantha Siedlecki Eric Bjorkstedt, Richard Feely, Adrienne Sutton, Jessica Cross, & Jan Newton September, 2014 THE IMPORTANCE OF TEMPERATURE TO CHEMISTRY AND BIOTA IN THE OCEAN ➤ Solubility of gases (like CO2 and oxygen) decreases with increasing temperature - warm water holds less gas ➤ Stratification of the water column changes with temperature, which alters the vertical exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and carbon throughout ➤ Temperature defines habitats, cues reproduction, and influences metabolism, life cycles, and behavior Now that we have looked at the physical processes involved with the exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and the ocean let’s turn THE IMPORTANCE OF TEMPERATURE TO CHEMISTRY IN THE OCEAN to the chemical processes Biological Processes Chemical & Physical Processes IPCC 2007 Fig. 7.10 Chemical Processes Influencing Air-Sea Exchange of CO2 1.! Physical Processes o! Air-sea gas exchange = f (wind speed, bubble injection, surfactants) o! Ocean circulation 2.! Chemical Processes o! CO2 solubility = f (temperature, salinity) [“The Solubility Pump”] o! Carbonate chemical equilibrium 3.! Biological Processes [“The Biological Pump”] o! Photosynthesis & respiration o! Calcium carbonate production 1 AH24A-0048 TMO S D A P H A N E R I IC C Data Management and Preservation of Underway N A A D E M C I N O I S L T A R N A O T I pCO Observations from VOS Ships I T O O 2 A N U .S . CE Catherine E. Cosca, R.A. Feely, S.R. Alin D R E E P A M M RT O Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA; 7600 Sand Point Way N.E.; Seattle, Washington 98115; USA MEN T O F C ABSTRACT DECADAL VARIATION OF SUSTAINED HIGH QUALITY pCO2 MEASUREMENTS As part of a multi-year effort to quantify the flux of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, the Ocean Climate Observation Program of NOAA supports the deployment of underway CO2 systems on NOAA research ships and volunteer observing ships (VOS) in the A pattern of increased pCO2 distributions across the Pacific basin Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans. For the past decade (2004 - present), PMEL has maintained an underway pCO2 system on 6 has emerged from the sustained high quality pCO2 measurements different container ships crossing the Pacific Ocean from Long Beach to New Zealand. Our measurements of pCO2 along this transit PMEL has attained from container ships. Trans-Pacific pCO2 include 39 crossings, and capture data during various ENSO conditions. Data are quality controlled locally at PMEL, and globally via measurements from 2004 and 2014 during normal ENSO the SOCAT community, resulting in a high quality time series of sustained pCO2 measurements. Results indicate an increasing decadal conditions (3 month running SST anomaly within ± 0.5°C of the trend of higher pCO2 distributions across the basin, coupled with increased sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. climatological mean in the Nino 3.4 region) are shown in Figure 3. The transects show a trend of increasing pCO2 values in the equatorial Pacific over the past decade. Figure 4 and Table 1 depict average values for each 10° of latitude along the trans-Pacific transit. The decadal difference in pCO2 DATA COLLECTION reaches ~ 36 µatm at the equator, and decreases in the southern The CO2 group of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) has been monitoring sea surface CO2 concentrations in the latitudes. Data collected in the northern hemisphere during 2014 equatorial Pacific since 1982. This is a particularly dynamic area exhibiting significant variation in surface CO2, both interannually due to captures the effect of the sustained temperature anomaly known as the effects of ENSO dynamics, and seasonally due to changes in wind strength and upwelling patterns. From February 2004 to the present, “the Blob” (Bond et al., 2015, Figure 5). PMEL has maintained an underway pCO2 system on 6 different container ships covering the transect from Long Beach California to New Zealand (Figure 1), allowing us to document the changes in surface pCO2 across the Pacific basin. When the anomalously high pCO2 values from the Blob are excluded, the mean decadal increase in pCO2 for the Long Beach A) B) to New Zealand track line is 26 µatm (15°N to 35°S), consistent AH24A-0048 pCO2 [µatm] TMO S with trends of pCO2 at stationary moorings in the equatorial D A P H A N E R Pacific (Sutton et al., 2014). In the region where the transect I IC C Data Management and Preservation of Underway N A travels through the Blob (15°N to 35°N), the decadal increase in A D E M pCO reaches values up to 49 µatm which constitutes a 47% C I 2 N O I S enrichment in pCO2 due to the anomalously warm waters relative L T A R to the decadal change. This enhanced carbon source may have N A O T strong implications for the oceanic carbon budget for the time I pCO Observations from VOS Ships I T O O frame it2 continues to exist, transitioning the region from a CO A 2 N sink to a CO2 source. U .S . CE Catherine E. Cosca, R.A. Feely, S.R. Alin D R E E PA M Figure 3. pCO2 measured from Long Beach to New Zealand transects in 2004 and 2014. R OM TM F C OPENIncreases OCEAN in pCO2 are RESPONSE: observed across the PCO entire2 PacificHIGHER basin during AT THE the past SURFACE decade. IN “THE BLOB”Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA; 7600 Sand Point Way N.E.; Seattle, Washington 98115; USA EN T O C) ABSTRACT DECADAL VARIATION OF SUSTAINED HIGH QUALITY pCO2 MEASUREMENTS As part of a multi-year effort to quantify the flux of CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, the Ocean Climate Observation Program of NOAA supports the deployment of underway CO2 systems on NOAA research ships and volunteer observing ships (VOS) in the A pattern of increased pCO2 distributions across the Pacific basin Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans. For the past decade (2004 - present), PMEL has maintained an underway pCO2 system on 6 has emerged from the sustained high quality pCO2 measurements different container ships crossing the Pacific Ocean from Long Beach to New Zealand. Our measurements of pCO2 along this transit PMEL has attained from container ships. Trans-Pacific pCO2 Columbus Waikato Albert Rickmers Cap Van Diemen Natalie Schulte Cap Vilano Cap Blanche include 39 crossings, and capture data during various ENSO conditions. Data are quality controlled locally at PMEL, and globally via measurements from 2004 and 2014 during normal ENSO February 2004 - January 2006 September - October, 2007 September - October, 2008 September 2010 - June 2012 February - May, 2013 January 2014 - present the SOCAT community, resulting in a high quality time series of sustained pCO2 measurements. Results indicate an increasing decadal conditions (3 month running SST anomaly within ± 0.5°C of the trend of higher pCO2 distributions across the basin, coupled with increased sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific. climatological mean in the Nino 3.4 region) are shown in Figure 3. The transects show a trend of increasing pCO2 values in the Figure 1. A) PMEL Underway pCO2 system in the engine room of a container ship. B) 39 Trans-Pacific transects from Long equatorial Pacific over the past decade. Beach to New Zealand. C) VOS ships hosting PMEL underway pCO2 equipment. Figure 5. Sea surface temperature anomalies (°C) in NE Pacific Ocean for February 2014. From Bond et al., 2014. Figure 4 and Table 1 depict average values for each 10° of latitude along the trans-Pacific transit. The decadal difference in pCO2 DATA COLLECTION reaches ~ 36 µatm at the equator, and decreases in the southern The CO2 group of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) has been monitoring sea surface CO2 concentrations in the latitudes. Data collected in the northern hemisphere during 2014 equatorial Pacific since 1982. This is a particularly dynamic area exhibiting significant variation in surface CO2, both interannually due to captures the effect of the sustained temperature anomaly known as DATA QUALITY CONTROL AND PRESERVATION the effects of ENSO dynamics, and seasonally due to changes in wind strength and upwelling patterns. From February 2004 to the present, “the Blob” (Bond et al., 2015, Figure 5). PMEL has maintained an underway pCO2 system on 6 different container ships covering the transect from Long Beach California to New Zealand (Figure 1), allowing us to document the changes in surface pCO2 across the Pacific basin. When the anomalously high pCO2 values from the Blob are Underway pCO2 data are quality controlled following a excluded, the mean decadal increase in pCO2 for the Long Beach protocol developed by the CO2 community and described A) B) to New Zealand track line is 26 µatm (15°N to 35°S), consistent pCO2 [µatm] in Pierrot et al. (2006). The pCO2 data, along with with trends of pCO2 at stationary moorings in the equatorial ancillary measurements of temperature, salinity, and Pacific (Sutton et al., 2014). In the region where the transect barometric pressure, are subsequently submitted to travels through the Blob (15°N to 35°N), the decadal increase in pCO2 reaches values up to 49 µatm which constitutes a 47% the Surface Ocean Carbon Atlas (SOCAT) for enrichment in pCO2 due to the anomalously warm waters relative secondary quality control and long-term archival to the decadal change. This enhanced carbon source may have (Figure 2). The SOCAT community has developed strong implications for the oceanic carbon budget for the time standards for both data and metadata. Each data set frame it continues to exist, transitioning the region from a CO2 is compared to other data in the same region, and sink to a CO2 source.
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