Basin-scale estimates of pelagic and coral reef calcification in the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean.
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Publication Date
2014-11-18Journal Title
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
111
Issue
46
Pages
16303-16308
Language
eng
Type
Article
Physical Medium
Print-Electronic
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Steiner, Z., Erez, J., Shemesh, A., Yam, R., Katz, A., & Lazar, B. (2014). Basin-scale estimates of pelagic and coral reef calcification in the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 111 (46), 16303-16308. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414323111
Abstract
Basin-scale calcification rates are highly important in assessments of the global oceanic carbon cycle. Traditionally, such estimates were based on rates of sedimentation measured with sediment traps or in deep sea cores. Here we estimated CaCO3 precipitation rates in the surface water of the Red Sea from total alkalinity depletion along their axial flow using the water flux in the straits of Bab el Mandeb. The relative contribution of coral reefs and open sea plankton were calculated by fitting a Rayleigh distillation model to the increase in the strontium to calcium ratio. We estimate the net amount of CaCO3 precipitated in the Red Sea to be 7.3 ± 0.4·10(10) kg·y(-1) of which 80 ± 5% is by pelagic calcareous plankton and 20 ± 5% is by the flourishing coastal coral reefs. This estimate for pelagic calcification rate is up to 40% higher than published sedimentary CaCO3 accumulation rates for the region. The calcification rate of the Gulf of Aden was estimated by the Rayleigh model to be ∼1/2 of the Red Sea, and in the northwestern Indian Ocean, it was smaller than our detection limit. The results of this study suggest that variations of major ions on a basin scale may potentially help in assessing long-term effects of ocean acidification on carbonate deposition by marine organisms.
Keywords
Animal Structures, Animals, Anthozoa, Plankton, Calcium Carbonate, Carbon Dioxide, Calcium, Strontium, Feasibility Studies, Greenhouse Effect, Seawater, Calcification, Physiologic, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Solubility, Geologic Sediments, Indian Ocean, Salinity, Chemical Precipitation, Foraminifera, Coral Reefs
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414323111
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284484
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