Upwelling velocity and ventilation in the Mauritanian upwelling system estimated by CFC-12 and SF6 observations

Transient tracer data (CFC-12 and SF6) from three oceanographic field campaigns to the Mauritanian Upwelling area conducted during winter, spring and summer from 2005 to 2007 is presented. The transient tracers are used to constrain a possible solution to the transient time distribution (TTD) along 18°N and to quantify the mean ages in vertical sections perpendicular to the coast. We found that an Inverse Gaussian distribution where the ratio of the moments Δ and Γ equals 1.2 is a possible solution (Δ/Γ = 1.2) of the TTD. The transient tracers further show considerable under-saturation in the mixed layer during the winter and spring cruises that can only be maintained by mixing or upwelling by tracer-poor water from below the mixed layer. We use dissipation data from microstructure measurements and the tracer depth distribution to quantify the flux of tracers to the mixed layer by vertical diffusivity and wind data from the ship to quantify the air-sea flux. We then use the magnitude of the under-saturation in the mixed layer to estimate the advective upwelling velocity which is the balance the first two processes, in a steady state assumption. We find that the upwelling velocities range from less than 1 to 5.6 × 10- 5 m s- 1 (< 0.8-4.8 m d- 1), with generally higher values close to the coast, but with comparable upwelling velocities during spring and winter. During the summer cruise the transient tracers were close to equilibrium with the atmosphere, suggesting no upwelling. We have shown the use of CFC-12 and SF6 transient tracer data for calculating upwelling velocity, and found an overall uncertainty of roughly ± 50%.