Air-sea CO2 exchange in the Kuroshio and its importance to the global CO2 uptake

Senior thesis written for Oceanography 444

[author abstract] The Kuroshio Extension in the western North Pacific is a very significant region in the global CO2 flux estimates. Measurements of surface concentrations of CO2 during a 22-day cruise off the coast of Japan in the months of February and March 2013 were made to calculate the rate of CO2 uptake by the Kuroshio Extension. Based on continuous sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, wind speed, atmospheric pCO2 and seawater pCO2 data acquired from a cruise from February 25th to March 18th 2013, a spatial analysis of CO2 flux in the Kuroshio Extension was examined. Based on previous studies, the North Pacific accounts for 29% of the global oceans CO2 uptake rate and this study further examines the significance of the Kuroshio Extension to the North Pacific CO2 flux as well as the global CO2 flux.

University of Washington School of Oceanography