1932

Abstract

Humans are continuing to add vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO) to the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning and other activities. A large fraction of the CO is taken up by the oceans in a process that lowers ocean pH and carbonate mineral saturation state. This effect has potentially serious consequences for marine life, which are, however, difficult to predict. One approach to address the issue is to study the geologic record, which may provide clues about what the future holds for ocean chemistry and marine organisms. This article reviews basic controls on ocean carbonate chemistry on different timescales and examines past ocean chemistry changes and ocean acidification events during various geologic eras. The results allow evaluation of the current anthropogenic perturbation in the context of Earth's history. It appears that the ocean acidification event that humans are expected to cause is unprecedented in the geologic past, for which sufficiently well-preserved records are available.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-042711-105521
2012-05-30
2024-12-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-042711-105521
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-042711-105521
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error