Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone.
The dissolution of CaCO(3) is one of the ways ocean acidification can, potentially, greatly affect the ballast of aggregates. A diminution of the ballast could reduce the settling speed of aggregates, resulting in a change in the carbon flux to the deep sea. This would mean lower amounts of more ref...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e0e15c6fc14740049da22f22ef3ba265 2023-05-15T17:49:59+02:00 Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. Pedro A de Jesus Mendes Laurenz Thomsen 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050865 https://doaj.org/article/e0e15c6fc14740049da22f22ef3ba265 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3525580?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050865 https://doaj.org/article/e0e15c6fc14740049da22f22ef3ba265 PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 12, p e50865 (2012) Medicine R Science Q article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050865 2022-12-31T02:20:03Z The dissolution of CaCO(3) is one of the ways ocean acidification can, potentially, greatly affect the ballast of aggregates. A diminution of the ballast could reduce the settling speed of aggregates, resulting in a change in the carbon flux to the deep sea. This would mean lower amounts of more refractory organic matter reaching the ocean floor. This work aimed to determine the effect of ocean acidification on the ballast of sinking surface aggregates. Our hypothesis was that the decrease of pH will increase the dissolution of particulate inorganic carbon ballasting the aggregates, consequently reducing their settling velocity and increasing their residence time in the upper twilight zone. Using a new methodology for simulation of aggregate settling, our results suggest that future pCO(2) conditions can significantly change the ballast composition of sinking aggregates. The change in aggregate composition had an effect on the size distribution of the aggregates, with a shift to smaller aggregates. A change also occurred in the settling velocity of the particles, which would lead to a higher residence time in the water column, where they could be continuously degraded. In the environment, such an effect would result in a reduction of the carbon flux to the deep-sea. This reduction would impact those benthic communities, which rely on the vertical flow of carbon as primary source of energy. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 7 12 e50865 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Pedro A de Jesus Mendes Laurenz Thomsen Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
The dissolution of CaCO(3) is one of the ways ocean acidification can, potentially, greatly affect the ballast of aggregates. A diminution of the ballast could reduce the settling speed of aggregates, resulting in a change in the carbon flux to the deep sea. This would mean lower amounts of more refractory organic matter reaching the ocean floor. This work aimed to determine the effect of ocean acidification on the ballast of sinking surface aggregates. Our hypothesis was that the decrease of pH will increase the dissolution of particulate inorganic carbon ballasting the aggregates, consequently reducing their settling velocity and increasing their residence time in the upper twilight zone. Using a new methodology for simulation of aggregate settling, our results suggest that future pCO(2) conditions can significantly change the ballast composition of sinking aggregates. The change in aggregate composition had an effect on the size distribution of the aggregates, with a shift to smaller aggregates. A change also occurred in the settling velocity of the particles, which would lead to a higher residence time in the water column, where they could be continuously degraded. In the environment, such an effect would result in a reduction of the carbon flux to the deep-sea. This reduction would impact those benthic communities, which rely on the vertical flow of carbon as primary source of energy. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pedro A de Jesus Mendes Laurenz Thomsen |
author_facet |
Pedro A de Jesus Mendes Laurenz Thomsen |
author_sort |
Pedro A de Jesus Mendes |
title |
Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
title_short |
Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
title_full |
Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
title_fullStr |
Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
title_sort |
effects of ocean acidification on the ballast of surface aggregates sinking through the twilight zone. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050865 https://doaj.org/article/e0e15c6fc14740049da22f22ef3ba265 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 12, p e50865 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3525580?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050865 https://doaj.org/article/e0e15c6fc14740049da22f22ef3ba265 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050865 |
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PLoS ONE |
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12 |
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