Work

Marine calcification as a source of carbon dioxide: Positive feedback of increasing atmospheric CO2

Year: 1994

Type: article

Abstract: Calcification is a well‐recognized source of CO2 to the surrounding water and thus a potential source of atmospheric CO2 due to chemical equilibria involving the CO2 species. The released CO2: precipitated carbonate ratio (Ψ) has recently been estimated to be 0.6 in seawater (taking into account the buffering capacity of the latter). We report an analytical expression enabling the computation of this ratio. Calculations show that the amount of CO2 that must be released to equilibrate seawater increases with increasing partial pressure of CO2 in seawater (pCO2), which results from human impact on atmospheric CO2. We show that at 15°C Ψ increased from 0.55 during the time of glaciation to 0.67 at present and would increase to 0.84 for a pCO2 of 1,000 µatm. Doubling the preindustrial pCO2 value results in a total CO2 source of ∼5 Gt C (taking into account the described buffering effect).

Source: Limnology and Oceanography

DOI: 10.4319/lo.1994.39.2.0458

Authors: Michel Frankignoulle, Christine Canon, Jean‐Pierre Gattuso

Institutions: University of Liège, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Pratique des Hautes Études

Language: English

Topic: Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Life below water

Open Access status: green

Funders: Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Miljøstyrelsen