Title:
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Ocean acidification and marine biogenic trace gas production
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The oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 emissions is leading to an alteration
of seawater carbonate chemistry, manifested as increasing [H+], falling [CO32-] and a
drop in seawater pH. Over the coming centuries this process, termed “ocean
acidification”, is expected to negatively impact marine biota, with implications for
marine biological and biogeochemical processes. In this thesis, the impact that such
changes may have on the net production of a range of climatically- and
atmospherically-important marine biogenic trace gases, including halocarbons and
dimethyl sulphide (DMS), is assessed through a mesocosm phytoplankton bloom CO2
perturbation experiment, two laboratory CO2 incubation experiments on natural
seawater samples, and at a volcanically-acidified shallow marine fieldsite in Italy.
Large and significant reductions in DMS and DMSP concentrations under future high
CO2 conditions were observed during the mesocosm experiment (mean decreases of 57
percent and 24 percent, respectively), a finding in strong support of a previous study
(Avgoustidi 2007). Furthermore, concentrations of iodocarbons showed large
decreases, with mean decreases under high CO2 ranging from 59 to 93 percent.
Results for the laboratory incubation experiments also showed a reduction in
iodocarbon concentrations (when normalised to chlorophyll a) under high CO2. These
changes may be the result of shifts in plankton community composition in response to
the high CO2 conditions, and/or impacts on dissolved organic matter and the bacterial
communities involved in the formation of these compounds. The response of
bromocarbons was less clear cut during the experimental studies. Following
investigations at a naturally-acidified fieldsite in Italy, it was concluded that this site
was a poor natural analogue to the impact of future ocean acidification on marine
trace gas production. Taking the results of the mesocosm and laboratory incubations
into consideration, a combined decrease in both DMS and iodocarbons in response to
ocean acidification may have considerable impacts on future atmospheric chemistry
and global climate.
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