scholarly journals Near-shore Antarctic pH variability has implications for the design of oceanacidification experiments

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Kapsenberg ◽  
Amanda L. Kelley ◽  
Emily C. Shaw ◽  
Todd R. Martz ◽  
Gretchen E. Hofmann

Abstract Understanding how declining seawater pH caused by anthropogenic carbon emissions, or oceanacidification, impacts Southern Ocean biota is limited by a paucity of pH time-series. Here,we present the first high-frequency in-situ pH time-series in near-shore Antarctica fromspring to winter under annual sea ice. Observations from autonomous pH sensors revealed aseasonal increase of 0.3 pH units. The summer season was marked by an increase in temporalpH variability relative to spring and early winter, matching coastal pH variability observedat lower latitudes. Using our data, simulations of ocean acidification show a future periodof deleterious wintertime pH levels potentially expanding to 7–11 months annually by 2100.Given the presence of (sub)seasonal pH variability, Antarctica marine species have anexisting physiological tolerance of temporal pH change that may influence adaptation tofuture acidification. Yet, pH-induced ecosystem changes remain difficult to characterize inthe absence of sufficient physiological data on present-day tolerances. It is thereforeessential to incorporate natural and projected temporal pH variability in the design ofexperiments intended to study ocean acidification biology.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. S24-S35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan A. Kleypas A. Kleypas

Climate change is usually associated with warming and weather extremes that impact the human environment and terrestrial systems, but it also has profound effects on the ocean, which is probably the most unique, life-supporting feature of planet Earth. The most direct consequence of rising CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is “ocean acidification,” a term that refers to the lowering of seawater pH, but encompasses a suite of chemical changes that affect marine organisms from shell formation, to reproduction, physiology, and behavior. The oceans are also warming in pace with the atmosphere, and in fact store the vast majority of the additional heat generated by rising CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This warming is causing the more mobile marine species to redistribute poleward and deeper, and is causing high mortality in more sessile species such as those that build and habituate coral reefs. But warming is also leading to a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the oceans. For tropical marine ecosystems, the combination of ocean acidification, warming, and deoxygenation will continue to impact marine ecosystems in the future. The extent of these impacts depends on which energy pathway society follows, and our abilities to reduce other stressors and assist the rate at which species can adapt and migrate to more suitable environments.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Zitoun ◽  
S. D. Connell ◽  
C. E. Cornwall ◽  
K. I. Currie ◽  
K. Fabricius ◽  
...  

In situ effects of ocean acidification are increasingly studied at submarine CO2 vents. Here we present a preliminary investigation into the water chemistry and biology of cool temperate CO2 vents near Whakaari–White Island, New Zealand. Water samples were collected inside three vent shafts, within vents at a distance of 2m from the shaft and at control sites. Vent samples contained both seawater pH on the total scale (pHT) and carbonate saturation states that were severely reduced, creating conditions as predicted for beyond the year 2100. Vent samples showed lower salinities, higher temperatures and greater nutrient concentrations. Sulfide levels were elevated and mercury levels were at concentrations considered toxic at all vent and control sites, but stable organic and inorganic ligands were present, as deduced from Cu speciation data, potentially mediating harmful effects on local organisms. The biological investigations focused on phytoplankton, zooplankton and macroalgae. Interestingly, we found lower abundances but higher diversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton at sites in the direct vicinity of Whakaari. Follow-up studies will need a combination of methods and approaches to attribute observations to specific drivers. The Whakaari vents represent a unique ecosystem with considerable biogeochemical complexity, which, like many other vent systems globally, require care in their use as a model of ‘future oceans’.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Richard D. Ray ◽  
Kristine M. Larson ◽  
Bruce J. Haines

Abstract New determinations of ocean tides are extracted from high-rate Global Positioning System (GPS) solutions at nine stations sitting on the Ross Ice Shelf. Five are multi-year time series. Three older time series are only 2–3 weeks long. These are not ideal, but they are still useful because they provide the only in situ tide observations in that sector of the ice shelf. The long tide-gauge observations from Scott Base and Cape Roberts are also reanalysed. They allow determination of some previously neglected tidal phenomena in this region, such as third-degree tides, and they provide context for analysis of the shorter datasets. The semidiurnal tides are small at all sites, yet M2 undergoes a clear seasonal cycle, which was first noted by Sir George Darwin while studying measurements from the Discovery expedition. Darwin saw a much larger modulation than we observe, and we consider possible explanations - instrumental or climatic - for this difference.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve S. Doo ◽  
Peter J. Edmunds ◽  
Robert C. Carpenter

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1775) ◽  
pp. 20132479 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. E. Fabricius ◽  
G. De'ath ◽  
S. Noonan ◽  
S. Uthicke

The ecological effects of ocean acidification (OA) from rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) on benthic marine communities are largely unknown. We investigated in situ the consequences of long-term exposure to high CO 2 on coral-reef-associated macroinvertebrate communities around three shallow volcanic CO 2 seeps in Papua New Guinea. The densities of many groups and the number of taxa (classes and phyla) of macroinvertebrates were significantly reduced at elevated CO 2 (425–1100 µatm) compared with control sites. However, sensitivities of some groups, including decapod crustaceans, ascidians and several echinoderms, contrasted with predictions of their physiological CO 2 tolerances derived from laboratory experiments. High CO 2 reduced the availability of structurally complex corals that are essential refugia for many reef-associated macroinvertebrates. This loss of habitat complexity was also associated with losses in many macroinvertebrate groups, especially predation-prone mobile taxa, including crustaceans and crinoids. The transition from living to dead coral as substratum and habitat further altered macroinvertebrate communities, with far more taxa losing than gaining in numbers. Our study shows that indirect ecological effects of OA (reduced habitat complexity) will complement its direct physiological effects and together with the loss of coral cover through climate change will severely affect macroinvertebrate communities in coral reefs.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. T. Schafer ◽  
F. E. Cole ◽  
D. Frobel ◽  
N. Rice ◽  
M. A. Buzas

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 3473-3489 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Holtvoeth ◽  
H. Vogel ◽  
B. Wagner ◽  
G. A. Wolff

Abstract. Organic matter preserved in Lake Ohrid sediments originates from aquatic and terrestrial sources. Its variable composition reflects climate-controlled changes in the lake basin's hydrology and related organic matter export, i.e. changes in primary productivity, terrestrial plant matter input and soil erosion. Here, we present first results from lipid biomarker investigations of Lake Ohrid sediments from two near-shore settings: site Lz1120 near the southern shore, with low-lying lands nearby and probably influenced by river discharge, and site Co1202 which is close to the steep eastern slopes. Variable proportions of terrestrial n-alkanoic acids and n-alkanols as well as compositional changes of ω-hydroxy acids document differences in soil organic matter supply between the sites and during different climate stages (glacial, Holocene, 8.2 ka cooling event). Changes in the vegetation cover are suggested by changes in the dominant chain length of terrestrial n-alkanols. Effective microbial degradation of labile organic matter and in situ contribution of organic matter derived from the microbes themselves are both evident in the sediments. We found evidence for anoxic conditions within the photic zone by detecting epicholestanol and tetrahymanol from sulphur-oxidising phototrophic bacteria and bacterivorous ciliates and for the influence of a settled human community from the occurrence of coprostanol, a biomarker for human and animal faeces (pigs, sheep, goats), in an early Holocene sample. This study illustrates the potential of lipid biomarkers for future environmental reconstructions using one of Europe's oldest continental climate archives, Lake Ohrid.


Ocean Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1185-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iván Pérez-Santos ◽  
Leonardo Castro ◽  
Lauren Ross ◽  
Edwin Niklitschek ◽  
Nicolás Mayorga ◽  
...  

Abstract. The aggregation of plankton species along fjords can be linked to physical properties and processes such as stratification, turbulence and oxygen concentration. The goal of this study is to determine how water column properties and turbulent mixing affect the horizontal and vertical distributions of macrozooplankton along the only northern Patagonian fjord known to date, where hypoxic conditions occur in the water column. Acoustic Doppler current profiler moorings, scientific echo-sounder transects and in situ plankton abundance measurements were used to study macrozooplankton assemblages and migration patterns along Puyuhuapi Fjord and Jacaf Channel in Chilean Patagonia. The dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy was quantified through vertical microstructure profiles collected throughout time in areas with high macrozooplankton concentrations. The acoustic records and in situ macrozooplankton data revealed diel vertical migrations (DVM) of siphonophores, chaetognaths and euphausiids. In particular, a dense biological backscattering layer was observed along Puyuhuapi Fjord between the surface and the top of the hypoxic boundary layer (∼100 m), which limited the vertical distribution of most macrozooplankton and their DVM, generating a significant reduction of habitat. Aggregations of macrozooplankton and fishes were most abundant around a submarine sill in Jacaf Channel. In this location macrozooplankton were distributed throughout the water column (0 to ∼200 m), with no evidence of a hypoxic boundary due to the intense mixing near the sill. In particular, turbulence measurements taken near the sill indicated high dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy (ε∼10-5 W kg−1) and vertical diapycnal eddy diffusivity (Kρ∼10-3 m2 s−1). The elevated vertical mixing ensures that the water column is well oxygenated (3–6 mL L−1, 60 %–80 % saturation), creating a suitable environment for macrozooplankton and fish aggregations. Turbulence induced by tidal flow over the sill apparently enhances the interchange of nutrients and oxygen concentrations with the surface layer, creating a productive environment for many marine species, where the prey–predator relationship might be favored.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tazio Strozzi ◽  
Sofia Antonova ◽  
Frank Günther ◽  
Eva Mätzler ◽  
Gonçalo Vieira ◽  
...  

Low-land permafrost areas are subject to intense freeze-thaw cycles and characterized by remarkable surface displacement. We used Sentinel-1 SAR interferometry (InSAR) in order to analyse the summer surface displacement over four spots in the Arctic and Antarctica since 2015. Choosing floodplain or outcrop areas as the reference for the InSAR relative deformation measurements, we found maximum subsidence of about 3 to 10 cm during the thawing season with generally high spatial variability. Sentinel-1 time-series of interferograms with 6–12 day time intervals highlight that subsidence is often occurring rather quickly within roughly one month in early summer. Intercomparison of summer subsidence from Sentinel-1 in 2017 with TerraSAR-X in 2013 over part of the Lena River Delta (Russia) shows a high spatial agreement between both SAR systems. A comparison with in-situ measurements for the summer of 2014 over the Lena River Delta indicates a pronounced downward movement of several centimetres in both cases but does not reveal a spatial correspondence between InSAR and local in-situ measurements. For the reconstruction of longer time-series of deformation, yearly Sentinel-1 interferograms from the end of the summer were considered. However, in order to infer an effective subsidence of the surface through melting of excess ice layers over multi-annual scales with Sentinel-1, a longer observation time period is necessary.


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