Near-shore Carbon Dynamics in the Context of Anthropogenic Ocean Acidification - RESCHEDULED

Concerns have been raised on how near-shore marine ecosystems will be affected by ocean acidification resulting from increasing atmospheric CO2, but until recently, the influence of natural variability and processes affecting near-shore carbon chemistry have been largely overlooked. Here, I present results from a number of near-shore environments ranging from coral reefs in Bermuda to estuaries in Southern California, illustrating the dynamic and sometimes surprising nature of these environments. Observations from Bermuda demonstrate how shifts in reef biogeochemical processes towards increasing calcification and heterotrophy cause seawater acidification events. These shifts appear linked to offshore productivity and ultimately controlled by large-scale climatological and oceanographic processes. Similarly, seasonal acidification events of near-shore environments in Southern California appear strongly linked to the intensity and duration of upwelling of deep water, which ultimately is controlled by the coastal wind field and atmospheric processes. In contrast, export of estuarine waters from a salt marsh estuary in this region, partly counteracts surface seawater acidification by the addition of high loads of total alkalinity to the near-shore environment.

Speaker:  Andreas Andersson, Scripps Institute of Oceanography

Editor's Note: This event has been rescheduled to May 4.