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The equatorial Pacific Ocean is one of the most important yet highly variable oceanic source areas for atmospheric carbon dioxide (C[O.ub.2]). Here, we used the partial pressure of C[O.sub.2] (PC[O.sub.2]), measured in surface waters from 1979 through early 2001, to examine the effect on the equatorial Pacific C[O.sub.2] chemistry of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation phase shift, which occurred around 1988 to 1992. During the decade before the shift, the surface water PC[O.sub.2] (corrected for temperature changes and atmospheric C[O.sub.2] uptake) in the central and western equatorial Pacific decreased at a mean rate of about -20 µatm per decade, whereas after the shift, it increased at about +15 µatm per decade. These changes altered the C[O.sub.2] sink and source flux of the equatorial Pacific significantly., The equatorial Pacific Ocean is known to undergo significant changes on interannual time scales (e.g., El Nino and La Nina) and on decadal time scales. This area is a major [...]

The equatorial Pacific Ocean is one of the most imporant yet highly variable oceanic source areas for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO[sub2]). Here, we used the partial pressure of CO[sub2] (PCO[sub2]), measured in surface waters from 1979 through early 2001, to examine the effect on the equatorial Pacific CO[sub2] chemistry of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation phase shift, which occurred around 1988 to 1992. During the decade before the shift, the surface water PCO[sub2] (corrected for temperature changes and atmospheric CO[sub2] uptake) in the central and western equatorial Pacific decreased at a mean rate of about -20 µatm per decade, whereas after the shift, it increased at about +15 µatm per decade. These changes altered the CO[sub2] sink and source flux of the equatorial Pacific significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]