Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Publication Date

7-2011

Volume

25

Disciplines

Biochemistry | Chemistry | Life Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Abstract

Ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO2 has focused our attention on the importance of understanding the rates and mechanisms of CaCO3 formation so that changes can be monitored and feedbacks predicted. We present a method for determining the rate of CaCO3 production using in situ measureme nts of fCO(2) and pH in surface waters of the eastern subarctic Pacific Ocean. These quantities were determined on a surface mooring every 3 h for a period of about 9 months in 2007 at Ocean Station Papa (50 degrees N, 145 degrees W). We use the data in a simple surface ocean, mass balance model of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and alkalinity (Alk) to constrain the CaCO3: organic carbon (OC) production ratio to be approximately 0.5. A CaCO3 production rate of 8 mmol CaCO3 m(-2) d(-1) in the summer of 2007 (1.2 mol m(-2) yr(-1)) is derived by combining the CaCO3: OC ratio with the a net organic carbon production rate (2.5 mol C m(-2) yr(-1)) determined from in situ measurements of oxygen and nitrogen gas concentrations measured on the same mooring (Emerson and Stump, 2010). Carbonate chemistry data from a meridional hydrographic section in this area in 2008 indicate that isopycnal surfaces that outcrop in the winter in the subarctic Pacific and deepen southward into the subtropics are a much stronger source for alkalinity than vertical mixing. This pathway has a high enough Alk: DIC ratio to support the CaCO3: OC production rate implied by the fCO(2) and pH data.

DOI

10.1029/2010GB003924

Comments

© 2011, American Geophysical Union.

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