Ocean Acidification in Deep Time
Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon dioxide (CO2) by fossil-fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not pr...
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The Oceanography Society
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:434033cfdbee46f991425d8d3db5170f 2023-05-15T17:50:26+02:00 Ocean Acidification in Deep Time Lee R. Kump Timothy J. Bralower Andy Ridgwell 2009-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/434033cfdbee46f991425d8d3db5170f EN eng The Oceanography Society http://tos.org/oceanography/issues/issue_archive/issue_pdfs/22_4/22-4_kump.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1042-8275 1042-8275 https://doaj.org/article/434033cfdbee46f991425d8d3db5170f Oceanography, Vol 22, Iss 4, Pp 94-107 (2009) ocean acidification fossil fuel burning Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum calcium carbonate Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2009 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-30T23:33:31Z Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon dioxide (CO2) by fossil-fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not prevent the precipitation and accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as limestone; accumulation of alkalinity brought to the ocean by rivers kept surface waters supersaturated. But these were steady states, not perturbations. More rapid additions of carbon dioxide during extreme events in Earth history, including the end-Permian mass extinction (251 million years ago) and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) may have driven surface waters to undersaturation, although the evidence supporting this assertion is weak. Nevertheless, observations and modeling clearly show that during the PETM the deep ocean, at least, became highly corrosive to CaCO3. These same models applied to modern fossil fuel release project a substantial decline in surface water saturation state in the next century. So, the answer to the original question may be no, there may be no precedent in Earth history for the type of disruption we might expect from the phenomenally rapid rate of carbon addition associated with fossil fuel burning. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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topic |
ocean acidification fossil fuel burning Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum calcium carbonate Oceanography GC1-1581 |
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ocean acidification fossil fuel burning Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum calcium carbonate Oceanography GC1-1581 Lee R. Kump Timothy J. Bralower Andy Ridgwell Ocean Acidification in Deep Time |
topic_facet |
ocean acidification fossil fuel burning Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum calcium carbonate Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Is there precedence in Earth history for the rapid release of carbon dioxide (CO2) by fossil-fuel burning and its environmental consequences? Proxy evidence indicates that atmospheric CO2 concentrations were higher during long warm intervals in the geologic past, and that these conditions did not prevent the precipitation and accumulation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as limestone; accumulation of alkalinity brought to the ocean by rivers kept surface waters supersaturated. But these were steady states, not perturbations. More rapid additions of carbon dioxide during extreme events in Earth history, including the end-Permian mass extinction (251 million years ago) and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 million years ago) may have driven surface waters to undersaturation, although the evidence supporting this assertion is weak. Nevertheless, observations and modeling clearly show that during the PETM the deep ocean, at least, became highly corrosive to CaCO3. These same models applied to modern fossil fuel release project a substantial decline in surface water saturation state in the next century. So, the answer to the original question may be no, there may be no precedent in Earth history for the type of disruption we might expect from the phenomenally rapid rate of carbon addition associated with fossil fuel burning. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lee R. Kump Timothy J. Bralower Andy Ridgwell |
author_facet |
Lee R. Kump Timothy J. Bralower Andy Ridgwell |
author_sort |
Lee R. Kump |
title |
Ocean Acidification in Deep Time |
title_short |
Ocean Acidification in Deep Time |
title_full |
Ocean Acidification in Deep Time |
title_fullStr |
Ocean Acidification in Deep Time |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ocean Acidification in Deep Time |
title_sort |
ocean acidification in deep time |
publisher |
The Oceanography Society |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/434033cfdbee46f991425d8d3db5170f |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Oceanography, Vol 22, Iss 4, Pp 94-107 (2009) |
op_relation |
http://tos.org/oceanography/issues/issue_archive/issue_pdfs/22_4/22-4_kump.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1042-8275 1042-8275 https://doaj.org/article/434033cfdbee46f991425d8d3db5170f |
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1766157197307281408 |