Is AOU a good measure of respiration in the oceans?
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Boyle_Is AOU a good.pdf
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Author(s)
Follows, Michael J
Boyle, Edward A
Ito, Takamitsu
Date Issued
September 2004
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Ito, T., M. J. Follows, and E. A. Boyle. “Is AOU a Good Measure of Respiration in the Oceans?” Geophysical Research Letters 31.17 (2004): n. pag. © 2004 American Geophysical Union
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU) is widely used to infer respiration in the oceans by assuming that surface oxygen concentration is close to saturation with the overlying atmosphere. However, significant disequilibrium of oxygen has been observed in high latitude surface oceans where the deep waters are formed. We explicitly calculate True Oxygen Utilization (TOU) in a global ocean physical-biogeochemical model to evaluate the ability of AOU to represent respiration. We find significant differences between AOU and TOU in the deep waters, suggesting a systematic overestimation of respiration when inferred from AOU. The surface heat flux and the entrainment of thermocline waters together drive the surface undersaturation of oxygen in the regions of water mass formation, and their influences are significantly enhanced by sea ice cover at high latitudes.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020900
