AN: OS35G-08
TI: An Anthropogenic CO2 Inventory in the East (Japan) Sea and Its Effect on Carbonate Chemistry
AU: * Park, G
EM: pgh3715@postech.ac.kr
AF: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 790-784 Korea, Republic of
AU: Lee, K
EM: ktl@postech.ac.kr
AF: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, 790-784 Korea, Republic of
AU: Tishchenko, P
EM: tpavel@poi.dvo.ru
AF: Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far East Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russian Federation
AU: Min, D
EM: min@utmsi.utexas.edu
AF: Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, Texas, United States
AU: Talley, L D
EM: ltalley@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, California, United States
AU: Kang, D
EM: djocean@nate.com
AF: Research Institute of Oceanography, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences(BK21), Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 Korea, Republic of
AU: Kim, K
EM: krkim@snu.ac.kr
AF: Research Institute of Oceanography, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences(BK21), Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 Korea, Republic of
AB: This paper reports the basin-wide inventory of anthropogenic CO2 in the East (Japan) Sea determined on the basis of high-quality alkalinity, chlorofluorocarbon, and nutrient data collected during a summer survey in 1999, along with inorganic carbon data calculated from pH and alkalinity measurements. The anthropogenic CO2 concentration was estimated by separating it from total dissolved inorganic carbon using a tracer-based (chlorofluorocarbon) separation technique. Anthropogenic CO2 has already reached the bottom of the East Sea, largely due to the effective transport of anthropogenic CO2 from the surface to the ocean interior via deep-water formation in the waters off Vladivostok, Russia. All waters in the basin are affected by anthropogenic CO2. The highest specific column inventory (inventory per square meter) of anthropogenic CO2 of 75 mol C m-2 was found in the Japan basin (40 - 42°N). Comparison of this inventory with the inventories in the same latitude band in other major basins reveals that it is much higher than the inventory in the Pacific Ocean (20 - 30 mol C m-2) and similar to the inventory in the North Atlantic (66 - 72 mol C m-2). The large accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 in the East Sea during the industrial era has caused the aragonite and calcite 100% saturation horizons to move upward by 80 - 220 m and 500 - 700 m, respectively. These upward movements are approximately 5 times greater than those found in the Pacific Ocean. Both the large accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 and its profound impact on the carbonate chemistry in the East Sea suggest that this sea is an important site for monitoring the future impact of oceanic invasion of anthropogenic CO2.