Carbonate dissolution by reef microbial borers: a biogeological process producing alkalinity under different pCO 2 conditions

• Published in: Facies
• Main Authors: Tribollet, Aline, Chauvin, Anne, Cuet, Pascale
• Other Authors: Cycles biogéochimiques marins : processus et perturbations (CYBIOM), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-École polytechnique (X), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Laboratoire d'Excellence CORAIL (LabEX CORAIL), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Université de la Polynésie Française (UPF)-Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (UNC)-Institut d'écologie et environnement-Université des Antilles (UA), Ecologie marine tropicale dans les Océans Pacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE Réunion ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), French Ministry of Ecology Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: coral reefs; euendoliths; microborers; ocean acidification; seawater alkalinity; Biogenic carbonate dissolution; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02193013; https://hal.science/hal-02193013/document; https://hal.science/hal-02193013/file/Tribollet%20et%20al.%20-%202019%20-%20Carbonate%20dissolution%20by%20reef%20microbial%20borers%20a%20.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-018-0548-x

International audience Rising atmospheric CO 2 is acidifying the world's oceans, affecting both calcification and dissolution processes in coral reefs. Among processes, carbonate dissolution by bioeroding microflora has been overlooked, and especially its impact on seawater alkalinity. To date, this biogeological process has only been studied using microscopy or buoyant weight techniques. To better understand its possible effect on seawater alkalinity, and thus on reef carbonate budget, an experiment was conducted under various seawater chemistry conditions (2 ≤ Ω arag ≤ )3.5 corresponding to 440 ≤ pCO 2 (µatm) ≤ 940) at 25 degrees C under night and daylight (200 µmol photons m -2 s -1 ) with natural microboring communities colonizing dead coral blocks (New Caledonia). Both the alkalinity anomaly technique and microscopy methods were used to study the activity of those communities dominated by the chlorophyte Ostreobium sp. Results show that (1) the amount of alkalinity released in seawater by such communities is significant and varies between 12.8 +/- 0.7 at Ω Arag ~ 2 and 5.6 +/- 0.4mmol CaCO 3 m -2 day -1 at Ω Arag ~ 3-3.5 considering a 12:12 photoperiod; (2) although dissolution is higher at night (~ 80 vs. 20% during daylight), the process can occur under significant photosynthetic activity; and (3) the process is greatly stimulated when an acidity threshold is reached (pCO 2 920 µatm vs. current conditions at constant light intensity). We show that carbonate dissolution by microborers is a major biogeochemical process that could dissolve a large part of the carbonates deposited by calcifying organisms under ocean acidification.