Lateral carbon export from the southern Benguela upwelling system

Swart, Neil C

Lateral carbon export from the southern Benguela upwelling system

Master Thesis

2008

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Oceanography

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

The objective of this study was to quantify the lateral export of organic carbon from the continental shelf of the southern Benguela upwelling system to the open ocean. The flux is potentially important because the Benguela is one of the most productive and biogeochemically active ecosystems in the global ocean. Furthermore, a significant fraction of oceanic carbon storage is modulated through the biological pump mechanism, and on millennia 1 timescales the global ocean regulates atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. The current study builds on previous work, and examines both the physical and biogeochemical aspects of the lateral carbon flux from the southern Benguela. Multiple physical mechanisms capable of inducing cross-shelf advection were examined, including dynamic interaction with Agulhas Rings and upwelling front instability, however the bottom boundary layer (BBL) was the focus.

Description

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-[169]).

Keywords

Physical Oceanography

Reference:

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