Using a coupled 3D
hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model system for the Northwest-European shelf we
simulated the years 1993-96, which exhibit an extremely strong transition from
a NAOI-high to a NAOI-low regime. The induced temperature-shift had two
consequences for the carbon budget of the North Sea:
Firstly it increased the CO2 solubility and secondly it destabilized
the water column in spring 1996. The latter effect was the precondition for
mixing events which brought new nitrogen for primary production into the upper
layer. Consequently the air-sea flux was 540 Gmol C a-1 in 1996, the
NAOI-low year, and it was 203 Gmol C a-1 in 1995, the year with the
highest NAOI.
Author: J. Paetsch, W. Kuehn, A.V. Borges, Y. Bozec, et al (paetsch at ifm dot uni-hamburg dot de)
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