Ocean-Atmosphere CO2 Fluxes in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre: Association with Biochemical and Physical Factors during Spring

Sea surface partial pressure of CO2 (pCO(2)) was measured continuously in a transect of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre between Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (18.1 degrees N, 68.5 degrees W) and Vigo, Spain (41.9 degrees N, 11.8 degrees W) during spring 2011. Additional biogeochemical and physical variables measured to identify factors controlling the surface pCO(2) were analyzed in discrete samples collected at 16 sites along the transect at the surface and to a depth of 200 m. Sea surface pCO(2) varied between 309 and 662 mu atm, and showed differences between the western and eastern subtropical gyre. The subtropical gyre acted as a net CO2 sink, with a mean flux of -5.5 +/- 2.2 mmol m(-2) day(-1). The eastern part of the transect, close to the North Atlantic Iberian upwelling off the Galician coast, was a CO2 source with an average flux of 33.5 +/- 9.0 mmol m(-2) day(-1). Our results highlight the importance of making more surface pCO(2) observations in the area located east of the Azores Islands since air-sea CO2 fluxes there are poorly studied.