Biogeosciences
www.biogeosciences.net
1726-4170
1726-4189
4
2
2007
10.5194/bg-4-205-2007
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/205/2007/
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/205/2007/bg-4-205-2007.html
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/205/2007/bg-4-205-2007.pdf
205
213
2007-03-20
Dissolution of calcium carbonate: observations and model results in the subpolar North Atlantic
K. Friis
friis@dechema.de
R. G. Najjar
M. J. Follows
S. Dutkiewicz
A. Körtzinger
K. M. Johnson
Pennsylvania State University, Department of Meteorology, 503 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802-5013, USA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences, 77 Massachusetts Av., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften an der Universität Kiel, Marine Biogeochemistry, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
now at: Dechema e.V., Theodor-Heuss-Allee 25, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
We investigate the significance of in situ dissolution of calcium carbonate above
its saturation horizons using observations from the open subpolar North
Atlantic [sNA] and to a lesser extent a 3-D biogeochemical model. The sNA is
particularly well suited for observation-based detections of in situ, i.e. shallow-depth
CaCO<sub>3</sub> dissolution [SDCCD] as it is a region of high
CaCO<sub>3</sub> production, deep CaCO<sub>3</sub> saturation horizons, and
precisely-defined <i>pre-formed</i> alkalinity. Based on the analysis of a comprehensive
alkalinity data set we find that SDCCD does not appear to be a significant
process in the open sNA. The results from the model support the
observational findings by indicating that there is not a significant need of
SDCCD to explain observed patterns of alkalinity in the North Atlantic.
Instead our investigation points to the importance of mixing processes for
the redistribution of alkalinity from dissolution of CaCO<sub>3</sub> from below
its saturation horizons. However, mixing has recently been neglected for a
number of studies that called for SDCCD in the sNA and on global scale.
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