Dissertation Abstract

The research included in this Doctoral Thesis focuses on improving the understanding of the processes that regulate the carbon cycle in the unique aquatic systems present in the South-Atlantic Iberian Basin, including oceanic areas, represented by the Gulf of Cadiz and the Strait Gibraltar, as continental areas whose exponents are the estuary of the Guadalquivir and the Doñana wetlands. Thus, we have evaluated aspects such as the role of these regions in the capture or emission of atmospheric CO2, the anthropogenic carbon fraction, the control elements of the gas transfer and the main consequence of increased dissolved CO2 in seawater, ie ocean acidification. The results obtained during the performance of the work included in this thesis involve the contribution of new quantitative specific carbon stocks in this region.