Seawater carbonate chemistry and shell weights of Laternula elliptica, Yoldia eightsi, Nacella concinna and Liothyrella uva during experiments, 2009, supplement to: McClintock, James B; Angus, Robert A; Mcdonald, Michelle R; Amsler, Charles D; Catledge, Shane A; Vohra, Yogesh K (2009): Rapid dissolution of shells of weakly calcified Antarctic benthic macroorganisms indicates high vulnerability to ocean acidification. Antarctic Science, 21(5), 449-456

• Main Authors: McClintock, James B, Angus, Robert A, Mcdonald, Michelle R, Amsler, Charles D, Catledge, Shane A, Vohra, Yogesh K
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2009
• Subjects: Animalia; Antarctic; Benthic animals; Benthos; Brachiopoda; Calcification/Dissolution; Coast and continental shelf; Laboratory experiment; Laternula elliptica; Liothyrella uva; Mollusca; Nacella concinna; Polar; Single species; Yoldia eightsi; DATE/TIME; Experiment day; Sample ID; Salinity; Temperature, water; pH; Alkalinity, total; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Fugacity of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Bicarbonate ion; Carbonate ion; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Aragonite saturation state; Calcite saturation state; Laternula elliptica, weight; Yoldia eightsi, weight; Nacella concinna, weight; Liothyrella uva, weight; pH meter Fisher Model AB15; Titration; Calculated; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. 2010; Mettler AJ100 balance Mettler-Toledo; European network of excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis EUR-OCEANS; European Project on Ocean Acidification EPOCA; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre OA-ICC; McClintock; Nacella; Toledo; Antarc*; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.756660; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.756660

Antarctic calcified macroorganisms are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification because many are weakly calcified, the dissolution rates of calcium carbonate are inversely related to temperature, and high latitude seas are predicted to become undersaturated in aragonite by the year 2100. We examined the post-mortem dissolution rates of aragonitic and calcitic shells from four species of Antarctic benthic marine invertebrates (two bivalves, one limpet, one brachiopod) and the thallus of a limpet shell-encrusting coralline alga exposed to acidified pH (7.4) or non-acidified pH (8.2) seawater at a constant temperature of 4 C. Within a period of only 14-35 days, shells of all four species held in pH 7.4 seawater had suffered significant dissolution. Despite calcite being 35% less soluble in seawater than aragonite, there was surprisingly, no consistent pattern of calcitic shells having slower dissolution rates than aragonitic shells. Outer surfaces of shells held in pH 7.4 seawater exhibited deterioration by day 35, and by day 56 there was exposure of aragonitic or calcitic prisms within the shell architecture of three of the macroinvertebrate species. Dissolution of coralline algae was confirmed by differences in weight loss in limpet shells with and without coralline algae. By day 56, thalli of the coralline alga held in pH 7.4 displayed a loss of definition of the conceptacle pores and cracking was evident at the zone of interface with limpet shells. Experimental studies are needed to evaluate whether there are adequate compensatory mechanisms in these and other calcified Antarctic benthic macroorganisms to cope with anticipated ocean acidification. In their absence, these organisms, and the communities they comprise, are likely to be among the first to experience the cascading impacts of ocean acidification. : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Lavigne and Gattuso, 2011) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI).