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A multi-decadal delay in the onset of corrosive ‘acidified’ waters in the Ross Sea of Antarctica due to strong air-sea CO2disequilibrium
- Source :
- Geophysical Research Letters. 37
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2010.
-
Abstract
- [1] Antarctic coastal waters have an abundance of marine organisms that secrete the mineral aragonite for growth and survival. Increasing oceanic anthropogenic CO2 uptake will push these waters to a point whereby aragonite will start to geochemically corrode, with direct consequences for the Antarctic ecosystem. Here we combine surface CO2 data in the Ross Sea, Antarctica with a regional ocean/sea-ice model to better pinpoint the timing of corrosive conditions. Our analysis suggests sea-ice cover and deep-water entrainment during winter results in 65% lower storage of anthropogenic CO2 in comparison to atmospheric CO2 equilibrium. This means that instead of corrosive ‘acidified’ waters beginning as early as the winter of 2015, anthropogenic CO2 disequilibrium delays its onset by up to 30 years, giving this Antarctic marine ecosystem a several decade reprieve to corrosive conditions. Our results demonstrate a broader importance of understanding natural oceanic carbon cycle variability for the onset of corrosive conditions.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Aragonite
Ocean acidification
engineering.material
01 natural sciences
Carbon cycle
Geophysics
Oceanography
13. Climate action
Sea ice
engineering
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Ecosystem
Marine ecosystem
14. Life underwater
Oceanic carbon cycle
Water pollution
Geology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00948276
- Volume :
- 37
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........e11458709b3378c67e602e2af9d49bf0