NORTH PACIFIC-OCEAN CO2 DISEQUILIBRIUM FOR SPRING THROUGH SUMMER, 1985-1989

Extensive measurements of CO2 fugacity in the North Pacific surface oc ean and overlying atmosphere during the years 1985-1989 are synthesize d and interpreted to yield a basin-wide estimate of Delta fCO(2). The observations, taken from February through early September, suggest tha t the subtropical and subarctic North Pacific is a small sink for atmo spheric CO2 (0.07 to 0.2 Gton C (half year)(-1) for the region north o f 15 degrees N). Objective analysis techniques are used to estimate un certainty fields resulting from constructing basin-wide contours of oc eanic fCO(2) on the basis of individual cruise transects. The uncertai nties are significant and imply that future sampling programs need to recognize that estimating oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 from shi p-transect observations of oceanic fCO(2) alone will require very exte nsive sampling.