Coral Reefs Will Transition to Net Dissolving Before End of Century

Authors

Bradley D. Eyre, Southern Cross University - Lismore, Australia
Tyler Cyronak, University of California - San DiegoFollow
Patrick Drupp, University of Hawaii - Manoa
Eric Heinen De Carlo, University of Hawaii - Manoa
Julian P. Sachs, University of Washington - Seattle
Andreas J. Andersson, University of California - San Diego

ORCID

0000-0003-3556-7616

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Science

ISSN

0036-8075

Publication Date

2-23-2018

Abstract

Ocean acidification refers to the lowering of the ocean’s pH due to the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere. Coral reef calcification is expected to decrease as the oceans become more acidic. Dissolving calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) sands could greatly exacerbate reef loss associated with reduced calcification but is presently poorly constrained. Here we show that CaCO₃ dissolution in reef sediments across five globally distributed sites is negatively correlated with the aragonite saturation state (Ω_ar) of overlying seawater and that CaCO₃ sediment dissolution is 10-fold more sensitive to ocean acidification than coral calcification. Consequently, reef sediments globally will transition from net precipitation to net dissolution when seawater Ω_ar reaches 2.92 ± 0.16 (expected circa 2050 CE). Notably, some reefs are already experiencing net sediment dissolution.

DOI

10.1126/science.aao1118

Volume

359

Issue

6378

First Page

908

Last Page

911

Comments

©2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

Additional Comments

ARC grant #s: 110103638, 150102092; NSF grant #s: OCE 12-55042, N NA140AR170071

NSUWorks Citation

Bradley D. Eyre, Tyler Cyronak, Patrick Drupp, Eric Heinen De Carlo, Julian P. Sachs, and Andreas J. Andersson. 2018. Coral Reefs Will Transition to Net Dissolving Before End of Century .Science , (6378) : 908 -911. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/1029.