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Eddy-pCO2 Relationships in the Southern Ocean

      Abstract

      We investigate the role of mesoscale eddies in modulating the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in the Southern Ocean from 1996 to 2015 using an eddy-centric composite method. The variation of pCO2 is dominated by the balance between sea surface temperature (SST) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) effects, which are affected by eddy-induced upwelling/downwelling. According to the rotation direction and SST signals, eddies can be classified into warm/cold and anticyclonic/cyclonic eddies and have different pCO2 anomalies in different seasons. In winter, the pCO2 anomalies within cold/warm eddies show positive/negative signals, which are dominated by DIC other than SST. However, in summer, the mechanisms affecting pCO2 anomalies within eddies vary with regions in the Southern Ocean. In regions with larger (smaller) magnitudes of DIC anomalies, the pCO2 anomalies within eddies are dominated by DIC (SST) anomalies and thus show positive/negative (negative/positive) signals within cold/warm eddies.