Abstract

The sea surface temperature (SST) and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) derived from hourly in situ measurements at Northwest (56.5°N, 52.6°W) and Northeast (49.0°N, 16.5°W) subpolar sites of the Atlantic Ocean from 2003 – 2005 were employed to investigate the seasonal pCO₂–SST relationship. The results indicate weak to moderately strong significant negative relationships (r = -0.04 to -0.89, p<0.0001) and (r = -0.56 to -0.97, p<0.0001) between SST and pCO₂ for the Northeast and Northwest observed data respectively. At the Northwestern site, the variation in surface water pCO₂ might be partly controlled by the seasonal change in SST as well as biological activities and other physical processes. The variability in pCO₂ distribution at the Northeastern oceanographic site were attributed principally to mixing and stratification processes during the autumn and spring seasons, while the pCO₂–SST interrelationship obtained during summertime suggested that pCO₂ variability could have been induced mainly by thermodynamic effects.

Key words: Sea surface temperature, pCO₂, temperature effects, temperature anomalies, North Atlantic Ocean.