CO2 Dynamics on the Shelf of the East Siberian Sea

I. I. Pipko, S. P. Pugach, and I. P. Semiletov

Expedition data obtained in the coastal-shelf zone of the East Siberian Sea in September 2003, 2004, and 2008 are generalized. Studies of carbonate system in water and CO2 fluxes between ocean and atmosphere in this region confirmed that it was reasonable to divide the water area studied into two biogeochemical provinces and that the ecosystem of its coastal part is mainly of a heterotrophic nature. In different years, the extent of water supersaturation in carbon dioxide in the East Siberian Sea and the area of the CO2 release significantly changed. Geographic localization of the atmosphere action centers over the Arctic and their intensity were main determining factors; that told both on the formation of a basic character of the atmospheric and hydrological processes and on the dynamics of the CO2 exchange between water and air.