Articles | Volume 21, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3471-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3471-2025
Research article
 | 
11 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 11 Dec 2025

Diel variability affects the inorganic carbon system in the sea-surface microlayer and influences air-sea CO2 flux estimates

Ander López-Puertas, Oliver Wurl, Sanja Frka, and Mariana Ribas-Ribas

Related authors

Biogeochemical dynamics of the sea-surface microlayer in a multidisciplinary mesocosm study
Riaz Bibi, Mariana Ribas-Ribas, Leonie Jaeger, Carola Lehners, Lisa Gassen, Edgar Fernando Cortés-Espinoza, Jochen Wollschläger, Claudia Thölen, Hannelore Waska, Jasper Zöbelein, Thorsten Brinkhoff, Isha Athale, Rüdiger Röttgers, Michael Novak, Anja Engel, Theresa Barthelmeß, Josefine Karnatz, Thomas Reinthaler, Dmytro Spriahailo, Gernot Friedrichs, Falko Asmussen Schäfer, and Oliver Wurl
Biogeosciences, 22, 7563–7589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7563-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-7563-2025, 2025
Short summary
Organic Alkalinity modulates pH from the Sea-Surface Microlayer during a mesocosm study
Edgar Fernando Cortés-Espinoza, Alisa Wüst, Ander Lopéz-Puertas, Oliver Wurl, José Martín Hernández-Ayón, Hannelore Waska, and Mariana Ribas-Ribas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5265,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5265, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Atmospheric cold pools abruptly reverse thermohaline features in the ocean skin layer
Lisa Gassen, Samuel M. Ayim, Leonie Jaeger, Jens Meyerjürgens, Mariana Ribas-Ribas, and Oliver Wurl
Ocean Sci., 21, 2787–2804, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2787-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2787-2025, 2025
Short summary
Filamentogenesis and Filamentolysis of a Light Filament: Dynamic Processes in the Near-Surface Ocean Under Tidal Forcing
Michelle Albinus, Thomas H. Badewien, Lisa Gassen, Oliver Wurl, and Jens Meyerjürgens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4953,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4953, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
Short summary
Phytoplankton blooms affect microscale gradients of oxygen and temperature across the sea surface microlayer
Carsten Rauch, Lisa Deyle, Leonie Jaeger, Edgar Fernando Cortés-Espinoza, Mariana Ribas-Ribas, Josefine Karnatz, Anja Engel, and Oliver Wurl
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4833,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4833, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
Short summary

Cited articles

Acuña, V., Wolf, A., Uehlinger, U., and Tockner, K.: Temperature dependence of stream benthic respiration in an alpine river network under global warming, Freshw. Biol., 53, 2076–2088, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.02028.x, 2008. 
Álvarez, M., Sanleón-Bartolomé, H., Tanhua, T., Mintrop, L., Luchetta, A., Cantoni, C., Schroeder, K., and Civitarese, G.: The CO2 system in the Mediterranean Sea: a basin wide perspective, Ocean Sci., 10, 69–92, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-10-69-2014, 2014. 
Álvarez-Rodríguez, M.: The CO2 system observations in the Mediterranean Sea: past, present and future, in: Designing Med-SHIP: a program for repeated oceanographic surveys, CIESM Workshop Monographs, No. 43, edited by: Briand, F., CIESM, Monaco, 41–50, https://ciesm.org/catalog/index.php?article=1043 (last access: 14 January 2025), 2012. 
Bergamasco, A. and Malanotte-Rizzoli, P.: The circulation of the Mediterranean Sea: a historical review of experimental investigations, Adv. Oceanogr. Limnol., 1, 11–28, https://doi.org/10.1080/19475721.2010.491656, 2010. 
Borges, A. V.: Do we have enough pieces of the jigsaw to integrate CO2 fluxes in the coastal ocean?, Estuaries, 28, 3–27, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02732750, 2005. 
Download
Short summary
We studied how daily cycles affect inorganic carbon variables in the ocean's surface microlayer. Using data from three full days and nights off the Croatian coast, we found that thermohaline properties and key indicators like pH and pCO₂ change significantly from day to night. Ignoring nighttime conditions may lead to global carbon budget errors and highlights the need for continuous ocean observations.
Share