Collaborative Research: Processes Driving Spatial and Temporal Variability of Surface pCO2 in the Drake Passage

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This proposal is for the continuation and expansion of an underway program on the R/V Laurence M. Gould to measure dissolved carbon dioxide gas (pCO2) along with occasional total carbon dioxide (TCO2) in surface waters on transects of Drake Passage. The added observations include dissolved oxygen, as well as nutrient and carbon-13. The proposed work is similar to the underway measurement program made aboard R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer, and complements similar surface temperature and current data.The Southern Ocean is an important component of the global carbon budget. Low surface temperatures with consequently low vertical stability, ice formation, and high winds produce a very active environment for the exchange of gaseous carbon dioxide between the atmospheric and oceanic reservoirs. The Drake Passage is the narrowest point through which the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and its associated fronts must pass, and is the most efficient location for the measurement of latitudinal gradients of gas exchange. The generated time series will contribute towards two scientific goals: the quantification of the spatial and temporal variability and trends of surface carbon dioxide, oxygen, nutrients and C-13, and an understanding of the dominant processes that contribute to the observed variability.