The carbon budget of the North Sea

• Main Authors: H. Thomas, Y. Bozec, H. J. W. de Baar, K. Elkalay, M. Frankignoulle, L.-S. Schiettecatte, G. Kattner, A. V. Borges
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2005-01-01
• Series: Biogeosciences
• Online Access: http://www.biogeosciences.net/2/87/2005/bg-2-87-2005.pdf
• ISSN: 1726-4170; 1726-4189

A carbon budget has been established for the North Sea, a shelf sea on the NW European continental shelf. The carbon exchange fluxes with the North Atlantic Ocean dominate the gross carbon budget. The net carbon budget – more relevant to the issue of the contribution of the coastal ocean to the marine carbon cycle – is dominated by the carbon inputs from rivers, the Baltic Sea and the atmosphere. The North Sea acts as a sink for organic carbon and thus can be characterised as a heterotrophic system. The dominant carbon sink is the final export to the North Atlantic Ocean. More than 90% of the CO₂ taken up from the atmosphere is exported to the North Atlantic Ocean making the North Sea a highly efficient continental shelf pump for carbon.