Deep convection in the subpolar North Atlantic ventilates the ocean for atmospheric gases through the formation of deep water masses. Variability in the intensity of deep convection is believed to have caused large variations in North Atlantic anthropogenic carbon storage over the past decades, but observations of the properties during active convection are missing. Here we document the origin, extent and chemical properties of the deepest winter mixed layers directly observed in the Irminger Sea. As a result of the deep convection in winter 2014–2015, driven by large oceanic heat loss, mid-depth oxygen concentrations were replenished and anthropogenic carbon storage rates almost tripled compared with Irminger Sea hydrographic section data in 1997 and 2003. Our observations provide unequivocal evidence that ocean ventilation and anthropogenic carbon uptake take place in the Irminger Sea and that their efficiency can be directly linked to atmospheric forcing.

Abstract. The subpolar region in the North Atlantic is a major sink for anthropogenic carbon. While the storage rates show large interannual variability related to atmospheric forcing, less is known about variability in the natural dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and the combined impact of variations in the two components on the total DIC inventories. Here, data from 15 cruises in the Irminger Sea covering the 24-year period between 1991 and 2015 were used to determine changes in total DIC and its natural and anthropogenic components. Based on the results of an extended optimum multiparameter analysis (eOMP), the inventory changes are discussed in relation to the distribution and evolution of the main water masses. The inventory of DIC increased by 1.43 ± 0.17 mol m −2 yr −1 over the period, mainly driven by the increase in anthropogenic carbon (1.84 ± 0.16 mol m −2 yr −1 ) but partially offset by a loss of natural DIC (−0.57 ± 0.22 mol m −2 yr −1 ). Changes in the carbon storage rate can be driven by concentration changes in the water column, for example due to the ageing of water masses, or by changes in the distribution of water masses with different concentrations either by local formation or advection. A decomposition of the trends into their main drivers showed that variations in natural DIC inventories are mainly driven by changes in the layer thickness of the main water masses, while anthropogenic carbon is most affected by concentration changes. The storage rates of anthropogenic carbon are sensitive to data selection, while changes in DIC inventory show a robust signal on short timescales associated with the strength of convection.

Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) simultaneously mitigates atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and ocean acidification; however, no previous studies have investigated the response of the non-linear marine carbonate system sensitivity to alkalinity enhancement on regional scales. We hypothesise that regional implementations of OAE can sequester more atmospheric CO2 than a global implementation. To address this, we investigate physical regimes and alkalinity sensitivity as drivers of the carbon-uptake potential response to global and different regional simulations of OAE. In this idealised ocean-only set-up, total alkalinity is enhanced at a rate of 0.25 Pmol a-1 in 75-year simulations using the Max Planck Institute Ocean Model coupled to the HAMburg Ocean Carbon Cycle model with pre-industrial atmospheric forcing. Alkalinity is enhanced globally and in eight regions: the Subpolar and Subtropical Atlantic and Pacific gyres, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean. This study reveals that regional alkalinity enhancement has the capacity to exceed carbon uptake by global OAE. We find that 82–175 Pg more carbon is sequestered into the ocean when alkalinity is enhanced regionally and 156 PgC when enhanced globally, compared with the background-state. The Southern Ocean application is most efficient, sequestering 12% more carbon than the Global experiment despite OAE being applied across a surface area 40 times smaller. For the first time, we find that different carbon-uptake potentials are driven by the surface pattern of total alkalinity redistributed by physical regimes across areas of different carbon-uptake efficiencies. We also show that, while the marine carbonate system becomes less sensitive to alkalinity enhancement in all experiments globally, regional responses to enhanced alkalinity vary depending upon the background concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity. Furthermore, the Subpolar North Atlantic displays a previously unexpected alkalinity sensitivity increase in response to high total alkalinity concentrations.