ocean acidification

• Carbon dioxide can react with water to form carbonic acid which dissociates into bicarbonate ions and hydrogen ions
• pH will decrease as hydrogen ions create more acidic conditions
• if the concentration of carbonate ions increases, it would shift to the chemical reaction to left creating bicarbonate ions and slightly increasing the pH
• pH depends on factors such as salinity, temperature, season, and algae growth which are different in different parts of the world
• salinity is the amount of dissolved salts in water
• salinity is affected by temperature, precipitation, evaporation, freshwater run-off and sea ice formation
• total alkalinity is the sum of the excess ions such as carbonate and bicarbonate in water that can absorb H+ ions
• When more carbon dioxide reacts to form acid, some of the released hydrogen ions will be absorbed by the conjugate bases in the water
• carbon sink: a process that removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the biosphere
• carbon cycle: the movement of carbon from the atmosphere to the biosphere and back to the atmosphere
• carbon sink: a process that removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the biosphere
• pH of the ocean is 8.1-8.3
• ocean acidification is the decrease in pH of the ocean due to the absorption of carbon dioxide
• calcifiers are organisms that produce calcium carbonate (limestone) as shells
• corrosive: (adj) causing or tending to cause corrosion, especially by chemical action
• fitness: ability to survive and reproduce
• biological carbon pump: the movement of carbon between the atmosphere and the oceans
• large scale surface ocean currents flow steadily in a specific direction near the surface of the ocean
• the coriolis effect describes the curved path that an object takes when it moves in a straight line across the globe due to the rotation of the earth
• in the northern hemisphere, currents flow clockwise
• in the southern hemisphere, currents flow counter clockwise
• deep water currents are driven by density (polar water tends to be colder and saltier, thus denser and so this water would sink and eventually be replaces by warmer, less saline water from the equator)
• ocean thermocline is a layer of water with different temperatures, caused by the density of water
• convection currents can bring nutrient-rich deep waters to the surface to help algae bloom
• ocean deoxygenation is caused by the warming of the ocean surface
• if the surface water is too warm, the water won't sink to allow convection currents to bring nutrients from the deep water
• El Nino is a natural phenomenon that occurs every 2-7 years and is caused by the warming of the ocean surface
• in the el nino phase, warm air is rising over the eastern pacific
• la nina phase is when the sea surface temperature is below average and the ocean is cold
• carbon resevoirs are the carbon stores in the atmosphere, soil, water, plants and animals
• deep ocean water would have a higher concentration of carbon dioxide due to colder temperatures and higher pressure
• at high pressure and low temperature, calcium carbonate dissolves into carbon dioxide
• methane hydrates form when bacteria in the sea floor produce methane that reacts with water
• calcification: the hardening of tissue or other material by the deposition of or conversion into calcium carbonate or some other insoluble calcium compounds
• if you decrease the amount of free hydrogen ions through the use of a buffer, the reaction would shift to the right, creating more carbonate ions
• increasing the concentration of H+ ions would drive the reaction toward more biocarbonate ions, reducing the materials needed for shell building
• what are red tides?

  a bloom of algae that can be toxic to humans
• coral bleaching is when coral expels algae from its tissue
• calcite and aragonite are the two main forms of calcium carbonate in rocks