The oceanography, the biogeochemistry and the fluxes of carbon dioxide in the Benguela Upwelling System

• Main Author: Monteiro, Pedro Manuel Scheel
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2016
• Subjects: Oceanography
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18950

The aim of this study was to quantitatively investigate the mechanisms which drive carbon fluxes in an eastern boundary coastal upwelling system of which the Benguela is one of four comparable examples in the world. Three hypotheses describe the way the key aspects of the problem: ■ The Benguela upwelling system is, by virtue of its high primary production and sediment organic carbon accumulation rates, an important CO₂ sink. ■ The carbon export flux and the magnitude of the CO₂ sink in the Benguela System can be predicted from the C:N stoichiometry provided by the Redfield Ratio. ■ The inorganic carbon pump through coccolithophore production plays a minimal role in driving changes to the magnitude of both the carbon export flux and the air-sea CO₂ flux in the Benguela System. Carbon and nitrogen bulk water concentrations together with relevant physical parameters were measured along three transects which spanned the Benguela System defining the physical and biogeochemical characteristics of waters at the key stages of the upwelling cycle.