Pelagic calcium carbonate production and shallow dissolution in the North Pacific Ocean

Patrizia Ziveri (), William Robert Gray (), Griselda Anglada-Ortiz, Clara Manno, Michael Grelaud, Alessandro Incarbona, James William Buchanan Rae, Adam V. Subhas, Sven Pallacks, Angelicque White, Jess F. Adkins and William Berelson
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Patrizia Ziveri: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology
William Robert Gray: Université Paris-Saclay
Griselda Anglada-Ortiz: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology
Clara Manno: Natural Environmental Research Council
Michael Grelaud: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology
Alessandro Incarbona: Università di Palermo, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare
James William Buchanan Rae: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Adam V. Subhas: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Sven Pallacks: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology
Angelicque White: University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Jess F. Adkins: California Institute of Technology
William Berelson: Department of Earth Sciences

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Planktonic calcifying organisms play a key role in regulating ocean carbonate chemistry and atmospheric CO2. Surprisingly, references to the absolute and relative contribution of these organisms to calcium carbonate production are lacking. Here we report quantification of pelagic calcium carbonate production in the North Pacific, providing new insights on the contribution of the three main planktonic calcifying groups. Our results show that coccolithophores dominate the living calcium carbonate (CaCO3) standing stock, with coccolithophore calcite comprising ~90% of total CaCO3 production, and pteropods and foraminifera playing a secondary role. We show that pelagic CaCO3 production is higher than the sinking flux of CaCO3 at 150 and 200 m at ocean stations ALOHA and PAPA, implying that a large portion of pelagic calcium carbonate is remineralised within the photic zone; this extensive shallow dissolution explains the apparent discrepancy between previous estimates of CaCO3 production derived from satellite observations/biogeochemical modeling versus estimates from shallow sediment traps. We suggest future changes in the CaCO3 cycle and its impact on atmospheric CO2 will largely depend on how the poorly-understood processes that determine whether CaCO3 is remineralised in the photic zone or exported to depth respond to anthropogenic warming and acidification.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36177-w

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