The Geological Record of Ocean Acidification

Hönisch, Bärbel; Ridgwell, Andy; Schmidt, Daniela N.; Thomas, Ellen; Gibbs, Samantha J.; Sluijs, Appy; Zeebe, Richard E.; Kump, Lee R.; Martindale, Rowan C.; Greene, Sarah E.; Kiessling, Wolfgang; Ries, Justin B.; Zachos, James C; Royer, Dana L.; Barker, Stephen; Marchitto, Thomas M.; Moyer, Ryan P.; Pelejero, Carles; Ziveri, Patrizia; Foster, Gavin L.; Williams, B.

doi:10.1126/science.1208277

Cited by 869 publications

(630 citation statements)

References 192 publications

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“…The process of OA has reduced the average surface ocean pH by about 0.1 and is expected to reduce average pH by another 0.3 units by the end of this century [4,5]. The rapid change in ocean chemistry is faster than at any time over the past 50 Myr [6]. This CO 2 uptake will lead to a reduction in the saturation state of seawater with respect to calcite and aragonite, which are the two most common polymorphs of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) formed by marine organisms [5,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limacina helicinashell dissolution as an indicator of declining habitat suitability owing to ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem

et al. 2014

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Few studies to date have demonstrated widespread biological impacts of ocean acidification (OA) under conditions currently found in the natural environment. From a combined survey of physical and chemical water properties and biological sampling along the Washington-Oregon-California coast in August 2011, we show that large portions of the shelf waters are corrosive to pteropods in the natural environment. We show a strong positive correlation between the proportion of pteropod individuals with severe shell dissolution damage and the percentage of undersaturated water in the top 100 m with respect to aragonite. We found 53% of onshore individuals and 24% of offshore individuals on average to have severe dissolution damage. Relative to preindustrial CO 2 concentrations, the extent of undersaturated waters in the top 100 m of the water column has increased over sixfold along the California Current Ecosystem (CCE). We estimate that the incidence of severe pteropod shell dissolution owing to anthropogenic OA has doubled in near shore habitats since pre-industrial conditions across this region and is on track to triple by 2050. These results demonstrate that habitat suitability for pteropods in the coastal CCE is declining. The observed impacts represent a baseline for future observations towards understanding broader scale OA effects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limacina helicinashell dissolution as an indicator of declining habitat suitability owing to ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem

et al. 2014

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“…In a more general sense, ocean acidification may also refer to a decrease in ocean pH owing to other causes and to time scales that are not limited to the present or near future. However, the phrase ocean 'acidification event' should be used in the context of the Earth's history to describe an episode that involved geologically rapid changes of ocean carbonate chemistry on time scales of less than 10 000 years [62,63]. For instance, the decline in surface ocean pH and CaCO 3 saturation state (Ω) is coupled on these time scales in response to carbon input.…”

Section: Ocean Acidificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term legacy of massive carbon input to the Earth system: Anthropocene versus Eocene

Zeebe

Zachos

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Over the next few centuries, with unabated emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a total of 5000 Pg C may enter the atmosphere, causing CO 2 concentrations to rise to approximately 2000 ppmv, global temperature to warm by more than 8 ° C and surface ocean pH to decline by approximately 0.7 units. A carbon release of this magnitude is unprecedented during the past 56 million years—and the outcome accordingly difficult to predict. In this regard, the geological record may provide foresight to how the Earth system will respond in the future. Here, we discuss the long-term legacy of massive carbon release into the Earth's surface reservoirs, comparing the Anthropocene with a past analogue, the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, approx. 56 Ma). We examine the natural processes and time scales of CO 2 neutralization that determine the atmospheric lifetime of CO 2 in response to carbon release. We compare the duration of carbon release during the Anthropocene versus PETM and the ensuing effects on ocean acidification and marine calcifying organisms. We also discuss the conundrum that the observed duration of the PETM appears to be much longer than predicted by models that use first-order assumptions. Finally, we comment on past and future mass extinctions and recovery times of biotic diversity.

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“…Waldbusser et al 2011, Barton et al 2012) and past situations of low pH (e.g. Pelejero et al 2010;Hönisch et al 2012). However, the conditions predicted for the open ocean may not reflect the future conditions in the coastal zone, where many of these organisms live (Hendriks et al 2010a, b;Hofmann et al 2011;Kelly and Hofmann 2012), and results derived from changes in pH in coastal ecosystems often include processes other than OA, such as emissions from volcanic vents, eutrophication, upwelling and longterm changes in the geological cycle of CO 2 , which commonly involve simultaneous changes in other key factors affecting the performance of calcifiers, thereby confounding the response expected from OA by anthropogenic CO 2 alone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Ocean Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on Seawater pH

Duarte

Hendriks

Moore

et al. 2013

Estuaries and Coasts

616

452

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Ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions is a dominant driver of long-term changes in pH in the open ocean, raising concern for the future of calcifying organisms, many of which are present in coastal habitats. However, changes in pH in coastal ecosystems result from a multitude of drivers, including impacts from watershed processes, nutrient inputs, and changes in ecosystem structure and metabolism. Interaction between ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions and the dynamic regional to local drivers of coastal ecosystems have resulted in complex regulation of pH in coastal waters. Changes in the watershed can, for example, lead to changes in alkalinity and CO 2 fluxes that, together with metabolic processes and oceanic dynamics, yield high-magnitude decadal changes of up to 0.5 units in coastal pH. Metabolism results in strong diel to seasonal fluctuations in pH, with characteristic ranges of 0.3 pH units, with metabolically intense habitats exceeding this range on a daily basis. The intense variability and multiple, complex controls on pH implies that the concept of ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions cannot be transposed to coastal ecosystems directly. Furthermore, in coastal ecosystems, the detection of trends towards acidification is not trivial and the attribution of these changes to anthropogenic CO 2 emissions is even more problematic. Coastal ecosystems may show acidification or basification, depending on the balance between the invasion of coastal waters by anthropogenic CO 2 , watershed export of alkalinity, organic matter and CO 2 , and changes in the balance between primary production, respiration and calcification rates in response to changes in nutrient inputs and losses of ecosystem components. Hence, we contend that ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO 2 is largely an open-ocean syndrome and that a concept of anthropogenic impacts on marine pH, which is applicable across the entire ocean, from coastal to open-ocean environments, provides a superior framework to consider the multiple components of the anthropogenic perturbation of marine pH trajectories. The concept of anthropogenic impacts on seawater pH acknowledges that a regional focus is necessary to predict future trajectories in the pH of coastal waters and points at opportunities to manage these trajectories locally to conserve coastal organisms vulnerable to ocean acidification.

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The Geological Record of Ocean Acidification

Cited by 869 publications

References 192 publications

Limacina helicinashell dissolution as an indicator of declining habitat suitability owing to ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem

Limacina helicinashell dissolution as an indicator of declining habitat suitability owing to ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem

Long-term legacy of massive carbon input to the Earth system: Anthropocene versus Eocene

Is Ocean Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on Seawater pH

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