Benthic foraminifera show some resilience to ocean acidification in the northern Gulf of California, Mexico.

• Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Main Authors: Pettit, LR, Hart, MB, Medina-Sánchez, AN, Smart, CW, Rodolfo-Metalpa, R, Hall-Spencer, JM, Prol-Ledesma, RM
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/1451; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.02.011

The version on PEARL: Corrected proofs are Articles in Press that contain the authors' corrections. Final citation details, e.g., volume/issue number, publication year and page numbers, still need to be added and the text might change before final publication. Although corrected proofs do not have all bibliographic details available yet, they can already be cited using the year of online publication and the DOI , as follows: author(s), article title, journal (year), DOI Extensive CO2 vents have been discovered in the Wagner Basin, northern Gulf of California, where they create large areas with lowered seawater pH. Such areas are suitable for investigations of long-term biological effects of ocean acidification and effects of CO2 leakage from subsea carbon capture storage. Here, we show responses of benthic foraminifera to seawater pH gradients at 74-207m water depth. Living (rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera included Nonionella basispinata, Epistominella bradyana and Bulimina marginata. Studies on foraminifera at CO2 vents in the Mediterranean and off Papua New Guinea have shown dramatic long-term effects of acidified seawater. We found living calcareous benthic foraminifera in low pH conditions in the northern Gulf of California, although there was an impoverished species assemblage and evidence of post-mortem test dissolution.