Ocean Acidification
Describe the OA 55 million years ago
It was a much slower process and there was a mass extinction of calcifying ocean animals (forminifera)
The Washington Ocean Acidification Center was established in
July 2013
Scientific name for Thecosome Pteropods
Limacina helicina
when the carbonate ion concentration is low, Ω is ___ and mineral formation is not favored (Ωaragonite < 1).
Low
OA is how many times faster than the OA 55 million years ago?
10 times
When carbon dioxide combines with ocean water, what is the primary end product produced?
Bicarbonate
What natural process could accelerate OA in coastal waters?
Coastal Upwelling
You can cook meat with heat and
acid
pH
-log[H+]
global increase in atmospheric CO2 since pre-industrial era has caused a decline in the pH of surface seawater by about _____
0.1
Average pH of seawater has gone down by 0.1 and in 100 years it will be down by...
0.3
Global warming temperatures have increased by how much over the past 100 years?
0.6 +/- 0.2 degrees Celsius
Aragonite saturation state migrates to the surface at a rate of __ per year depending on the location
1-2 m
When the Ωaragonite saturation state is below the value of ___, the water is termed "corrosive"
1.0
Pteropods in the North make up how much of the total organisms in the water column ?
10%
During the upwelling of CO2 aragonite saturation states will become undersaturated on the Continental shelf at a depth of what range?
150 -200 m
Surface waters of the ocean by 2050 under saturated and the hydrogen ions will increase by what percent?
150%
At night Pteropods migrate to the surface but in the morning they migrate down how many meters?
200m
According to the Hawaiian Ocean site how much has the acidity of the Oceans increased by?
26%
According to the Hawaiian Ocean site how much has CO2 emissions increased by?
40%
pteropods are the only pelagic aragonite producers that make up how much of the global carbonate export surface in the Southern Ocean?
40%
Half of the CO2 is trapped in the upper __ of the ocean?
400 m
By 2038 CO2 levels will reach ___ppm making it undersaturated
450
Surface waters of the ocean by 2050 under saturated and the CO32-(Carbonate ions) will decrease by what percent?
50%
A carbon sink is,
A natural or manmade reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.
What term is used to refer to substances with very low pH values?
Acid (or Acidic)
What forms of calcium carbonate What are precipitated by living organisms?
Aragonite and Calcite
What is the approximate pH of typical ocean water?
Around 8
C02 from atmosphere or seawater can be captured -> salt marshes, mangroves & sea grass as organic material that stores for decades.
Blue Carbon
How can ocean acidification affect marine life?
Breaking down exoskeletons and shells. Evidence shows that some shelled organisms build shells more slowly, and some shells weaken and dissolve in acidic environments.
Other minor components are:
Bromine, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Strontium, Silicon
Carbonate ion
CO32-
Saturation State Chemical equation including the reactants and products.
Ca2+ (Calcium) + CO32-(Carbonate ion) yields CaCO3(Calcium Carbonate)
What happens if the omega aragonite phase is less than 1?
CaCo3 (Calcium Carbonate) will dissolve
What happens if the omega aragonite phase is greater than 1?
CaCo3 (Calcium Carbonate) will precipitate
Shells and corals may dissolve in an acidic environment. This is due to the breakdown of:
Calcium carbonate
This term refers to the capture and storage of carbon:
Carbon sequestration
What regulate(s) the pH of seawater?
Carbonate ions
Areas where CO2 bubbles up naturally due to underlying volcanism in Italy and Papua-New Guinea are called?
Champagne Sites
3 major planktonic calcifiers?
Coccolithophores(algae), Forminifera(protists), and Pteropods(snails)
Pacific Northwest waters are ___ and __ than the global average ocean[xv], which means CO2 gas dissolves more effectively in these waters
Colder and fresher
The Washington Ocean Acidification Center is led by the
College of the Environment at the University of Washington
Two major factors that increase CO2 emissions
Deforestation and factory emissions
What four major resources does OA(Ocean Acidification) damage in the ocean?
Disrupts food webs, biogeochemical cycle, direct loss of fisheries, and reef tourism and protection
What happens if the omega aragonite phase is equal to 1?
Equilibrium
Compared to the 1700s, average sea-surface pH levels have...
Fallen variably across the oceans
What explorer named the Pacific Ocean and in what year
Ferdinand Mallegen 1520
As you know, CO2 from the atmosphere dissolves into seawater. Let's look at this process in more detail:
First, CO2 reacts with water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3-): (1) CO2 + H2O > H2CO3- Carbonic acid can then dissociate into bicarbonate (HCO3-): (2) H2CO3- > H+ + HCO3- Bicarbonate can then dissociate into carbonate ions (CO32-) (3) HCO3- > H+ + CO32-
Coral reefs provide 6 major things in Florida.
Food,shelter fish, builds beaches, surf swells, protects shorelines
Bicarbonate
HCO3-
When the carbonate ion concentration is high, Ωaragonite is ____ and mineral formation is favored (Ωaragonite > 1);
High
Anthropogenic means?
Human caused
The major components (from greatest to smallest component) of seawater are:
Hydrogen, Oxygen, Chlorine, Sodium, Magnesium, Sulfate, Calcium, Potassium
By 2100 what areas will be most affected due to OA and what will happen to the aragonite saturation state?
In the Eastern boundaries and higher latitudes the pH will be very low. aragonite saturation state will decrease in higher latitudes and will be under saturated which means most of CaCO3 will dissolve.
When the temperature or salinity of seawater decreases, the amount of CO2 that can be absorbed:
Increases
Scientists are concerned about which greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere as permafrost in Polar Regions thaws?
Methane
3 layers under the outer layer of the Pteropod shell starting from the surface.
Periostratum(organic layer), prismatic layer, and lamellar layer (crossed)
Some trace elements (found at less than 0.95ppm) include:
Phosphorus, Argon, Zinc, Rubidium
What may benefit from higher CO2 conditions in the ocean?
Photosynthetic algae and seagrasses
Areas likely to be particularly vulnerable to Ocean Acidification
Regions with natural upwelling of deep ocean water on continental shelves, regions with low temperatures near the poles, and coastal regions with fresh water discharge.
The amount of gases that can dissolve in seawater depends on temperature and:
Salinity
The stability of minerals such as calcium carbonate is defined by a term called the
Saturation state or Omega
list two examples of vital uses of calcium carbonate to marine life?
Shell formation, exoskeleton formation, coral reef formation
if excess CO2 results in an excess of hydrogen ions in seawater what will happen to carbonate?
Some of the excess Hydrogen ions will combine with carbonate to form bicarbonate therefore reducing the availability of carbonate to marine organisms.
What kind of pteropods are scientists currently focusing on?
Thecosome pteropods (shelled)
What happened when Clownfish were put into a higher concentration of CO2?
Their ability to detect predators weakened.
Give a few reasons why pteropods are important in the Southern Ocean?
Their seasonally abundant, they graze on mesozooplankton, their the only pelagic aragonite producers that make up 20% to 40% of the global carbonate export surface, and are indicators of health
Two major things that affect animals behavior in OA?
They will have less energy and try to distribute away from the CO2 zones
The seasonal invasion of corrosive upwelling on the what coast of N. America?
West
As CO2 increases for photosynthetic organisms it fuels what type of organisms specifically?
autotrophic ( animals fix sunlight for energy)
Pteropods(snails) precipitate what?
aragonite
For many shell-forming organisms it is the _____, not pH, that has been shown to be most critical to survival and growth.
aragonite saturation state
Coccolithophores and Forminifera precipitate what?
calcite
Carbon sequestration
capture and storage of carbon
When the ____ concentration is high, Ωaragonite is high and mineral formation is favored (Ωaragonite > 1);
carbonate ion
Because calcium is abundant, the saturation state of calcium carbonate minerals is mainly controlled by the
carbonate ions in seawater.
Increased acidity can lead to
coral reef decline
When the Ωaragonite is below the value of 1.0, the water is termed "____" because dissolution of pure aragonite and unprotected aragonite shells will begin to occur.[viii]
corrosive
What gas molecules, consisting of methane surrounded by water, may in the future be a source of energy?
gas Hydrate
How much of the CO2 is trapped in the upper 400 m of the ocean?
half
What mainly feed on Thecosomes?
juvenile Pink Salmon
The ocean is the
largest natural carbon sink on Earth.
The entire pelagic zone (water column) aragonite saturation state will be =,<,or > than 1
less than
Carbon dioxide is taken up by
marine plants and algae during photosynthesis.
When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater,
most of it becomes bicarbonate ions and hydrogen ions. This increase in hydrogen ions is what decreases the pH. In addition, some of the hydrogen combines with carbonate to form more bicarbonate, decreasing the concentration of carbonate in seawater. Many marine organisms use carbonate, combined with calcium, to form their exoskeletons, shells or other structures (e.g. corals).
Four ways scientists study how OA is affecting organisms
observing and comparing old data to current time, lab experiments, Large Mesocosm Experiments (huge volumes of water in the poles), and looking at animals across a natural gradient in space
What does looking at animals across a natural gradient in space include?
oxygen minimum zones
Carbon sink
system that stores carbon
As temperature OR salinity increases,
the amount of gas the ocean can absorb decreases
As the amount of hydrogen ions increases in a solution,
the pH level decreases
Carbon sequestration refers to
the storage of carbon for indefinite time.
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing since industrial times because of
use of energy in homes, burning of fossil fuels for industry, emissions from transportation, cement manufacturing and deforestation.
What is passive diffusion?
when there are less Hydrogen ions in the cell compared to the environment
Describe what an ionic imbalance is
when there are less Hydrogen ions in the cell compared to the environment which is also called passive diffusion and the cell uses more energy for it's protein pump to keep an equilibrium state.
the pre-industrial Ωaragonite was already lower here than in the average ocean, with a pre-industrial of ~2.5, compared to the open ocean average value of
~3.6
Because the water from upwelling was last in contact w/ the surface _____ years ago the anthropogenic signal is weaker in those source waters
~30-50