Mode Waters provides a
privileged pathway for the transport of heat, salt and anthropogenic CO2
into the ocean interior. The carbon cycle
decadal variability in response to
environmental changes is investigated using historical and recent
data collected during the INDIGO (1985-1987) and OISO (1998-2003) oceanographic
campaigns conducted in the South West Indian Ocean, an important zone for Mode
Waters formation. The
observed change in dissolved inorganic carbon over the
15-year period was 8 µmol/kg in Subantarctic Mode Water (500-800m), which is
less than the anthropogenic carbon increase alone (13 µmol/kg). This difference
may be explained by natural or climate-induced changes in ocean processes.
Predictions from a global ocean-carbon model (OPA-PISCES) are used as a means
to help interpret changes in the controlling processes: ocean dynamics,
biological activity and air-sea interactions.
Author: C. L. Monaco, N. Metzl, O. Aumont, K. Rodgers, et al (lomonaco at ccr dot jussieu dot fr)
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