The exposure of the Great Barrier Reef to ocean acidification
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is founded on reef-building corals. Corals build their exoskeleton with aragonite, but ocean acidification is lowering the aragonite saturation state of seawater (Ω a ). The downscaling of ocean acidification projections from global to GBR scales requires the set of regi...
Published in: | Nature Communications |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2016
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10732 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26907171 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/117245 |
Summary: | The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is founded on reef-building corals. Corals build their exoskeleton with aragonite, but ocean acidification is lowering the aragonite saturation state of seawater (Ω a ). The downscaling of ocean acidification projections from global to GBR scales requires the set of regional drivers controlling Ω a to be resolved. Here we use a regional coupled circulationbiogeochemical model and observations to estimate the Ω a experienced by the 3,581 reefs of the GBR, and to apportion the contributions of the hydrological cycle, regional hydrodynamics and metabolism on Ω a variability. We find more detail, and a greater range (1.43), than previously compiled coarse maps of Ω a of the region (0.4), or in observations (1.0). Most of the variability in Ω a is due to processes upstream of the reef in question. As a result, future decline in Ω a is likely to be steeper on the GBR than currently projected by the IPCC assessment report. |
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