FY 1985

Water column dissolution of aragonite in the Pacific Ocean

Byrne, R.H., J.G. Acker, P.R. Betzer, R.A. Feely, and M.H. Cates

Nature, 312, 321–326, doi: 10.1038/312321a0 (1984)

Pelagic pteropods are an important component of the oceanic CO system. Their shells appear to be a principal source of excess alkalinity in the upper water column of the North Pacific Ocean. Dissolution of aragonite must therefore be taken account of in generating models of the oceanic CO system and is also an important cause of sample loss from long-term sediment traps deployed in undersaturated seawater.