Publication Date:
2023-06-23
Description:
The coastal ocean, the interface between the land and sea is a key environment for the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, yet these heterogeneous environments are historically under sampled. It is now becoming apparent that anthropogenic CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 induced ocean acidification is an open ocean syndrome and that ocean acidification in the coastal environments is far more complex. In the coastal ocean several processes will drive CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 trends, such as seawater temperature, biological processes, residence time and air to sea gas exchange. We investigate the distribution and fate of inorganic carbon in a tropical coastal environment, influenced by riverine discharge and local marine habitats – coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves. The Belize River, which drains the largest catchment in Belize, discharges just north of Belize City and is a source of high pCO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 (〉2000 µatm) water to the coastal environment. We investigate the process that occur once this low pH (〈7.6) water enters the coastal ocean and whether this low pH water, which is corrosive to corals (Ω〈sub〉arag〈/sub〉 〈1), reaches the barrier reef. Using a combination of sensor measurements and discrete samples, we found no evidence that river water reaches the barrier reef, located ~20km offshore. This was due to a number of processes occurring in the coastal ocean, including outgassing of CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 to the atmosphere and high rates of photosynthesis taking place, likely from benthic seagrass beds.
Language:
English
Type:
info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject
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