by remote sensing (sea surface temperature and color) cannot give sufficient accuracy to allow 

 the C0 2 flux to be computed with the required accuracy. 



STATUS OF RESEARCH 



We have taken part in two scoping cruises within the OMP survey area, during April/May 

 1993 and 1994. During the first cruise, aboard the RIV Gyre, approximately 500 nautical miles 

 of ship track within the survey area and a long transit south of the area (from Miami to Norfolk) 

 were investigated. During this cruise, the profound impact of the discharge from Chesapeake Bay 

 was noted, with one of the strongest C0 2 sinks ever measured in the marine environment being 

 found on the northernmost of three sections run perpendicular to the coast just south of the 

 entrance to the Chesapeake (pC0 2 approximately 115 uatm, undersaturated by 70% with respect 

 to the 350 uatm of the atmosphere). Still lower values, down to approximately 55 uatm, were 

 found inside the mouth of the bay! The second cruise, aboard the RIV Columbus Iselin, was 

 completed less than one month ago and consequently the data have not been thoroughly 

 examined. Eight transects roughly perpendicular to the coast were made between Cape Cod and 

 Cape Hatteras, in addition to longshore tracks nearshore between New Jersey and the 

 Maryland/Virginia border and offshore between North Carolina and Georges Bank. With the 

 exception of small areas in the nearshore regions north and south of Delaware Bay, one area off 

 North Carolina, and Nantucket Sound, the entire area appears to be weakly to moderately 

 undersaturated with respect to the atmosphere during this (presumably post-bloom) season. There 

 was a strongly undersaturated region just south of the entrance to the Chesapeake, as in 1993, 

 and an addition region of quite low surface pC0 2 was noted near the outfall from the Delaware 

 Bay. In general, the degree of undersaturation over the shelf decreases from north to south, with 

 waters undersaturated by more than 50 uatm being common north of approximately 38 °N, while 

 undersaturations of less than 50 uatm predominate south of that latitude. 



Keywords: carbon dioxide flux, pC0 2 , infrared analyzer 



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