Are fjords sources or sinks of CO2? A study of air-sea CO2 fluxes in Nootka Sound, B.C.

Senior thesis written for Oceanography 445

[author abstract] Carbon dioxide, an important atmospheric greenhouse gas, has increased approximately 40% in the past 200 years due to anthropogenic activity. As a result of this, the global carbon cycle has been thrown out of its pre-industrial period state as the ocean has begun to take up more anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) across the air-sea interface. In order to predict the future climate, carbon cycle, and marine biogeochemistry, one needs to quantify the movement of atmospheric CO2 into the ocean. This study examined the CO2 fluxes in an unstudied coastal region in Nootka Sound, British Columbia, Canada.

University of Washington School of Oceanography