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PMEL Publications Abstract

FY 2004

Global oceanic chlorofluorocarbon inventory

Willey, D.A., R.A. Fine, R.E. Sonnerup, J.L. Bullister, W.M. Smethie, Jr., and M.J. Warner

Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L01303, doi: 10.1029/2003GL018816 (2004)

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) dissolve in the oceans, but the total quantity and spatial distribution in the oceans was not previously known. The first estimate of the global oceanic CFC-11 uptake using field measurements is calculated from WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) CFC-11 concentrations. Here we find the total oceanic uptake of 5.5 (±1.2) × 108 moles was about 1% of total emissions through 1994. Eighty-two percent of the CFC-11 inventory is in the upper 1000 meters. The CFC inventory distribution implies that the dominant physical air-sea exchange of gases on decadal time scales occurs due to a combination of high gas solubility in cold high latitude waters and effectiveness of the wind-driven circulation. The global inventory provides a benchmark for models simulating climate change.

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