Measurements of Total Carbon Dioxide and Alkalinity in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1981

Abstract

The ocean uptake of fossil fuel CO, has long been recognized as the principal modulator of the rising atmospheric CO, level. If we are to observe and understand this effect, then an essential step is the accurate measurement of the CO, properties of the ocean. Historically, this has been quite difficult to achieve. Although measurements of some kind date back to the late 19th century, complete, documented, and verifiable measurements are scarce indeed. This chapter describes and documents the series of total CO, and alkalinity measurements of seawater made on the North Atlantic Ocean during the Transient Tracers in the Ocean (TTO) expedition in 1981, and presents briefly the signals these data reveal.