COMPARISON OF THE AUGUST SEPTEMBER 1991 AND 1979 SURFACE PARTIAL-PRESSURE OF CO2 DISTRIBUTION IN THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC-OCEAN NEAR 150-DEGREES-W

The partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in the surface seawater and marine air from 17-degrees-S to 22-degrees-N near 151-degrees-W (WOCE leg P-16c) during the period from August 31 to September 29, 1991, were measured continually. The surface seawater PCO2 showed large latitudinal variation with a maximum of 425 muatm near the equator. These results are compared with pCO2 measurements in 1979, in the same area and same months. The short-scale (temporal and spatial) variations in surface seawater pCO2 (+/-6.1 muatm) do not allow us to unequivocally quantify the variation in DELTApCO2 (pCO2sea - pCO2air) between the years 1979 and 1991 due to oceanic uptake of fossil fuel CO2. However, the data suggest that this ocean area might be a stronger source Of CO2 for the atmosphere than may be expected from results of ocean models.