Dynamics of Carbonate Characteristics of the Kara Sea Waters in the Late Autumn Season of 2021

• Published in: Doklady earth sciences Vol. 506; no. 1; pp. 671 - 676
• Main Authors: Pipko, I. I., Pugach, S. P., Semiletov, I. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.09.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aragonite; Atmosphere; Atmospheric carbon dioxide; Autumn; Brackishwater environment; Calcite crystals; Calcium; Calcium carbonate; Calcium carbonates; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide flux; Carbonates; Coastal waters; Coastal zone; Coastal zones; Dynamics; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Estuaries; Inland waters; Oceanology; Polar environments; River water; Rivers; Saturation; Seasons; Spatial variability; Spatial variations; Supersaturation; Surface water; Water temperature; Kara Sea; seawater carbonate chemistry; fluxes in the ocean–atmosphere system; acidification; Arctic; СО
• DOI: 10.1134/S1028334X22600232
• ISSN: 1028-334X

The field data characterizing the dynamics of the carbonate system, the level of surface water corrosivity with respect to aragonite, and CO 2 fluxes in the ocean–atmosphere system in the Kara Sea in the late autumn season are investigated. The study of carbonate characteristics of waters was carried out on board the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in October 2021. At that time, the waters of the main part of the studied area of the Kara Sea absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere intensely; in the invasion zone, the average CO 2 flux was 30.2 ± 35.5 mmol m –2 day –1 . It is shown that, among the Arctic seas in the season under study, the open water area of the Kara Sea was one of the most significant sinks for atmospheric CO 2 . The change in the flux direction occurred in a narrow coastal zone; supersaturation of waters with CO 2 was recorded in the estuarine regions, where the contribution of inland waters exceeded 50%. It is found that, with a small contribution of river waters (<10%), the change in the surface water temperature determined more than 90% of the spatial variability of рСО 2 . In the late autumn season, the surface waters of the Kara Sea were mainly supersaturated with calcium carbonate; an extremely low aragonite saturation level was found only in the estuarine regions, the areas of maximum influence of river waters.