Distribution of surface carbon dioxide and air-sea exchange in the English Channel and adjacent areas

[1] In the present paper we report the distribution of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in surface waters along 13 transects in the English Channel, covering the four seasons. The spatial and temporal variability of pCO2 is controlled by a complex combination of primary production (from May to June), degradation of organic matter, temperature change, and freshwater inputs. Preliminary air-sea CO2 exchange computations suggest that the Channel is not a major sink of atmospheric CO2 and is probably neutral from the point of view of atmospheric coupling. This is mainly related to a relatively low export and/or burial of organic carbon and intense benthic calcification.