Short-term variability of fCO2 in seawater and air–sea CO2 fluxes in a coastal upwelling system (Ría de Vigo, NW Spain)

Coastal upwelling systems are regions with highly variable physical processes and very high rates of primary production and very little is known about the effect of these factors on the short-term variations of CO2 fugacity in seawater (fCO2w). This paper presents the effect of short-term variability (<1 week) of upwelling–downwelling events on CO2 fugacity in seawater (fCO2w), oxygen, temperature and salinity fields in the Ría de Vigo (a coastal upwelling ecosystem). The magnitude of fCO2w values is physically and biologically modulated and ranges from 285 μatm in July to 615 μatm in October. There is a sharp gradient in fCO2w between the inner and the outer zone of the Ría during almost all the sampling dates, with a landward increase in fCO2w. CO2 fluxes calculated from local wind speed and air–sea fCO2 differences indicate that the inner zone is a sink for atmospheric CO2 in December only (−0.30 mmol m−2 day−1). The middle zone absorbs CO2 in December and July (−0.05 and −0.27 mmol•m−2 day−1, respectively). The oceanic zone only emits CO2 in October (0.36 mmol•m−2 day−1) and absorbs at the highest rate in December (−1.53 mmol•m−2 day−1).