A Unique Diel Pattern in Carbonate Chemistry in the Seagrass Meadows of Dongsha Island: The Enhancement of Metabolic Carbonate Dissolution in a Semienclosed Lagoon

In contrast to other seagrass meadows where seawater carbonate chemistry generally shows strong diel variations with higher pH but lower partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) during the daytime and lower pH but higher pCO2 during nighttime due to the alternation in photosynthesis and respiration, the seagrass meadows of the inner lagoon (IL) on Dongsha Island had a unique diel pattern with extremely high pH and low pCO2 across a diel cycle. We suggest that this distinct diel pattern in pH and pCO2 could be associated with the enhancement of total alkalinity (TA) production coupled to carbonate sediment dissolution in a semienclosed lagoon. The confinement of the IL may hamper water exchange and seagrass detritus export to the adjacent open ocean, which may result in higher organic matter loading to the sediments, and longer residence time of the water in the IL, accompanied by microbial respiration (both aerobic and anaerobic) that may reduce carbonate saturation level to drive carbonate dissolution and thus TA elevation, thereby forming such a unique diel pattern in carbonate chemistry. This finding further highlights the importance of considering TA production through metabolic carbonate dissolution when evaluating the potential of coastal blue carbon ecosystems to buffer ocean acidification and to absorb atmospheric CO2, in particular in a semienclosed setting.

High-solids anaerobic digestion of cassava pulp in semi-continuous bioreactors

The effects of two total solids contents (TS) and two inocula were studied for the semi-continuous high-solids anaerobic digestion (HS-AD) of cassava pulp under mesophilic conditions (35 ± 2 °C). In the 1.0-L bioreactors, two TS of 15% and 20% with digestate as a sole inoculum were chosen to run the HS-AD, and two inocula (the digestate from the AD of cassava pulp and sewage sludge) were used separately under TS 20%. All treatments were carried out at the organic matter loading rates (OLRs) of from 3.0 to 10.0 kg volatile solids (VS)/(m3·d), with each phase of 6 days followed by two 3-days phases of no feeding and then low OLR of 6.5 kg VS/(m3·d). Compared with TS 15%, the bioreactors of TS 20% with the digestate had a higher buffering capability to alleviate the rapid acidification and a higher level of the specific methane yields (SMYs) of from 0.212 to 0.233 m3/(kgVSadded) at the OLRs of 4.0 to 6.5 kgVS/(m3·d), while TS 15% obtained the highest SMY of from 0.152 to 0.182 m3/(kgVSadded) at the OLR of 4.0, 6.5, and 8.0 kgVS/(m3·d). In contrast, sewage sludge did not restrain the rapid acidification and only yielded quite small SMYs under TS 20%.