SOURCE OR SINK? A REVIEW OF THE CO₂ FLUXES AT THE BRAZILIAN CONTINENTAL SHELF

SOURCE OR SINK? A REVIEW OF THE CO₂ FLUXES AT THE BRAZILIAN CONTINENTAL SHELF. Studies of global carbon balance estimates are still incipient in the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, mainly in coastal areas and continental shelf. Even in Brazil, despite its continental proportion coastline, there is still a great inconsistency in studies on the marine carbonate system and CO₂ fluxes at the air-sea interface. This article presents a review of studies on CO₂ fluxes on the coast of Brazil, published between the years 2000 and 2022, aiming to map the distribution of CO₂ fluxes on the Brazilian continental shelf, to understand its role as a source or sink of CO₂. In general, large-scale studies show that the Brazilian shelf exhibits a latitudinal variation of air-sea CO₂ fluxes, behaving mainly as a source in the north, where there is no influence of the Amazon River plume, and as a sink in the south portion. We also identified there is a strong influence on the occurrence of mesoscale and synoptic oceanographic and meteorological events, and the presence of different ecosystems, which can change the behavior of CO₂ fluxes locally. However, there are still many data gaps along the continental shelf, as well as in different seasons for the entire coast.

Keywords:
air-sea interaction; Southwest Atlantic Ocean; CO₂ partial pressure; coastal zones; Brazil