Understanding larval bivalve responses to variable regimes of seawater carbonate chemistry requires realistic quantification of physiological stress. Based on a degree-day modeling approach, we developed a new metric, the ocean acidification stress index for shellfish (OASIS), for this purpose. OASIS integrates over the entire larval period the instantaneous stress associated...
This is PMEL Contribution 4396.
Acidification has sparked discussion about whether regulatory agencies should place coastal waters on the Clean Water Act 303(d) impaired water bodies list. Here we describe scientific challenges in assessing impairment with existing data, exploring use of both pH and biological criteria. Application of pH criteria...
Ocean acidification (OA) is altering the chemistry of the world’s oceans at rates unparalleled in the past roughly 1 million years. Understanding the impacts of this rapid change in baseline carbonate chemistry on marine organisms needs a precise, mechanistic understanding of physiological responses to carbonate chemistry. Recent experimental work has...
In 2007, the US west coast shellfish industry began to feel the effects of unprecedented levels of larval mortality in commercial hatcheries producing the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. Subsequently, researchers at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, working with academic and government scientists, showed a high correlation between aragonite saturation state (Ω[subscript]arag)...
Space-based observations offer unique capabilities for studying spatial and temporal dynamics of the upper ocean inorganic carbon cycle and, in turn, supporting research tied to ocean acidification (OA). Satellite sensors measuring sea surface temperature, color, salinity, wind, waves, currents, and sea level enable a fuller understanding of a range of...
Abstract: Coastal upwelling zones may be at enhanced risk from ocean acidification as upwelling brings low aragonite saturation state (Ω[subscript Ar]) waters to the surface that are further suppressed by anthropogenic CO₂. Ω[subscript Ar] was calculated with pH, pCO₂, and salinity-derived alkalinity time series data from autonomous pH and pCO₂...
Acidified waters are impacting commercial oyster
production in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and favorable
carbonate chemistry conditions are predicted to become
less frequent. Within 48 h of fertilization, unshelled Pacific
oyster (Crassostrea gigas) larvae precipitate roughly 90% of
their body weight as calcium carbonate. We measured stable
carbon isotopes in...
We assess the global balance of calcite export through the water column and burial in sediments as it varies regionally. We first drive a comprehensive 1-D model for sediment calcite preservation with globally gridded field observations and satellite-based syntheses. We then reformulate this model into a simpler five-parameter box model,...
Continental margin carbon cycling is complex, highly variable over a range of space and time scales, and forced by multiple physical and biogeochemical drivers. Predictions of globally significant air–sea CO₂ fluxes in these regions have been extrapolated based on very sparse data sets. We present here a method for predicting...
Various human activities, including fossil fuel combustion and forest clearing, emit about eight petagrams (or billion tons) of carbon in the form of CO2 into the atmosphere annually. The global ocean absorbs about two petagrams of CO2, and about a half of that amount is absorbed by the Southern Ocean...
From June 2009 to July 2010, we conducted 27 continuous-flow surveys of surface water CO₂ partial pressure (pCO₂) along the longitudinal axis of the Neuse River Estuary (NRE), North Carolina ranging from the tidal freshwater region to the polyhaline border with the Pamlico Sound. Lateral transects were also conducted at...
We report results from an oyster hatchery on the Oregon coast, where intake waters experienced variable carbonate chemistry (aragonite saturation state < 0.8 to > 3.2; pH < 7.6 to > 8.2) in the early summer of 2009. Both larval production and midstage growth (∼ 120 to ∼ 150 µm)...
During the Southern Ocean Iron Experiment (SOFeX), January-February 2002, two iron fertilization experiments were conducted at the south (66.45°S, 171.8°W) and north (56.23°S, 172°W) patches. The south patch was replete with all macronutrients, whereas the north patch was nearly depleted of silicate. Using a towed water sampling/measurement system, high resolution...
Previous work has shown that the Oregon shelf is a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) during the upwelling season; however, until now, summertime variability in CO₂ exchange and sign of the flux for the rest of the year were unknown. Observations of the partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) in...
We developed a multiple linear regression model to
robustly determine aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) from
observations of temperature and oxygen (R² = 0.987, RMS
error 0.053), using data collected in the Pacific Northwest
region in late May 2007. The seasonal evolution of Ωarag near
central Oregon was evaluated by applying...
To investigate CO₂ chemistry in ocean water with greater time-space resolutions, we systems, which have state-of-the-art precision but an order of magnitude or better analysis, for carbon dioxide partial pressures (Pco₂) and total carbon dioxide Pco₂ system was based on equilibration of a CO₂-free carrier gas stream with seawater sample...
Coastal upwelling regimes are some of the most productive ecosystems in the ocean but are also among the most vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) due to naturally high background concentrations of CO₂. Yet our ability to predict how these ecosystems will respond to additional CO₂ resulting from anthropogenic emissions is...
Full Text:
Mathis, J., Sutton, A., Sabine, C., Musielewicz, S., and Maenner, S. 2013. High-resolution ocean
and
Coastal upwelling regimes are some of the most productive ecosystems in the ocean but are also among the most vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) due to naturally high background concentrations of CO₂. Yet our ability to predict how these ecosystems will respond to additional CO₂ resulting from anthropogenic emissions is...
Full Text:
., Alin, S. R., Harvey, C. J., Bednaršek, N., Evans, W., Feely, R. A., Hales, B., Lucey, N., Mathis, J. T