Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-219
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-219
15 Nov 2022
 | 15 Nov 2022
Status: a revised version of this preprint was accepted for the journal BG and is expected to appear here in due course.

Seasonal dynamics and annual budget of dissolved inorganic carbon in the northwestern Mediterranean deep convection region

Caroline Ulses, Claude Estournel, Patrick Marsaleix, Karline Soetaert, Marine Fourrier, Laurent Coppola, Dominique Lefèvre, Franck Touratier, Catherine Goyet, Véronique Guglielmi, Fayçal Kessouri, Pierre Testor, and Xavier Durrieu de Madron

Abstract. Deep convection plays a key role in the circulation, thermodynamics and biogeochemical cycles in the Mediterranean Sea, considered as a hotspot of biodiversity and climate change. In the framework of the DEWEX (Dense Water Experiment) project, the seasonal cycle and annual budget of dissolved inorganic carbon in the deep convection area of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea are investigated over the period September 2012–September 2013, using a 3-dimensional coupled physical-biogeochemical-chemical modeling approach. We estimate that the northwestern Mediterranean Sea deep convection region was a moderate sink of CO2 for the atmosphere over the study period. The model results show the reduction of CO2 uptake during deep convection, and its increase during the abrupt spring phytoplankton bloom following the deep convection events. We highlight the dominant role of both biological and physical flows in the annual dissolved inorganic carbon budget. The upper layer of the northwestern deep convection region gained dissolved inorganic carbon through vertical physical supplies and, to a lesser extent, air-sea flux, and lost dissolved inorganic carbon through lateral transport and biological fluxes. The region, covering 2.5 % of the Mediterranean, acted as a source of dissolved inorganic carbon for the surface and intermediate water masses of the western and southern Western Mediterranean Sea and could contribute up to 10 and 20 % to the CO2 exchanges with the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Caroline Ulses et al.

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on bg-2022-219', Anonymous Referee #1, 05 Jan 2023
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC1', Caroline Ulses, 24 Apr 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on bg-2022-219', Anonymous Referee #2, 27 Jan 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Caroline Ulses, 24 Apr 2023
  • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Caroline Ulses, 24 Apr 2023

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on bg-2022-219', Anonymous Referee #1, 05 Jan 2023
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC1', Caroline Ulses, 24 Apr 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on bg-2022-219', Anonymous Referee #2, 27 Jan 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Caroline Ulses, 24 Apr 2023
  • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Caroline Ulses, 24 Apr 2023

Caroline Ulses et al.

Caroline Ulses et al.

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Short summary
Deep convection plays a key role in the circulation, thermodynamics and biogeochemical cycles in the Mediterranean Sea, considered as a hotspot of biodiversity and climate change. In this study, we investigate the seasonal cycle and annual budget of dissolved inorganic carbon in the deep convection area of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea.
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