Seawater carbonate chemistry and bioerosion of croal reef

• Main Authors: Prouty, Nancy G, Cohen, Anne L, Yates, Kimberly Kaye, Storlazzi, Curt D, Swarzenski, Peter W, White, Lisa D
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2017
• Subjects: Benthos; Calcification/Dissolution; Coast and continental shelf; Entire community; Field observation; Growth/Morphology; Rocky-shore community; South Pacific; Tropical; Type; Identification; Core length; DEPTH, water; LATITUDE; LONGITUDE; Years; Thickness; Distance; Direction; Growth rate; Growth rate, standard deviation; Density; Calcification rate; Percentage; Bioerosion rate; δ15N; δ15N, standard deviation; Replicates; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard deviation; pH; pH, standard deviation; Salinity; Salinity, standard deviation; Nitrate; Nitrate, standard deviation; Temperature, water; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Fugacity of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Bicarbonate ion; Carbonate ion; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Calcite saturation state; Experiment; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. 2010; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre OA-ICC; Pacific; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.923983; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.923983

Ocean acidification (OA), the gradual decline in ocean pH and [CO3 ] 2- caused by rising levels of atmospheric CO2, poses a significant threat to coral reef ecosystems, depressing rates of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) production, and enhancing rates of bioerosion and dissolution. As ocean pH and [CO3] 2- decline globally, there is increasing emphasis on managing local stressors that can exacerbate the vulnerability of coral reefs to the effects of OA. We show that sustained, nutrient rich, lower pH submarine groundwater discharging onto nearshore coral reefs off west Maui lowers the pH of seawater and exposes corals to nitrate concentrations 50 times higher than ambient. Rates of coral calcification are substantially decreased, and rates of bioerosion are orders of magnitude higher than those observed in coral cores collected in the Pacific under equivalent low pH conditions but living in oligotrophic waters. Heavier coral nitrogen isotope (delta15N) values pinpoint not only site-specific eutrophication, but also a sewage nitrogen source enriched in 15N. Our results show that eutrophication of reef seawater by land-based sources of pollution can magnify the effects of OA through nutrient driven-bioerosion. These conditions could contribute to the collapse of coastal coral reef ecosystems sooner than current projections predict based only on ocean acidification. : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2019) 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). The date of carbonate chemistry calculation by seacarb is 2020-10-14.