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There are two main types of inorganic carbon that are found in the oceans. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is made up of bicarbonate (HCO 3 −), carbonate (CO 3 2−) and carbon dioxide (including both dissolved CO 2 and carbonic acid H 2 CO 3).
Ocean mixed layer carbon, c m, is the only explicitly modelled ocean stock of carbon; though to estimate carbon cycle feedbacks the total ocean carbon is also calculated. [107] Current trends in climate change lead to higher ocean temperatures and acidity, thus modifying marine ecosystems. [108]
Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) is the other form of inorganic carbon found in the ocean. Most PIC is the CaCO 3 that makes up shells of various marine organisms, but can also form in whiting events. Marine fish also excrete calcium carbonate during osmoregulation. [4]
The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon (carbon not associated with a living thing, such as carbon dioxide) and organic carbon (carbon that is, or has been, incorporated into a living thing). Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.
Carbon dioxide dissolves in the ocean to form carbonic acid (H 2 CO 3), bicarbonate (HCO − 3), and carbonate (CO 2− 3). There is about fifty times as much carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans as exists in the atmosphere. The oceans act as an enormous carbon sink, and have taken up about a third of CO 2 emitted by human activity. [90
Dissolved inorganic carbon is a key component of the biological pump, which is defined as the amount of biologically produced organic carbon flux from the upper ocean to the deep ocean. [6] Dissolved inorganic carbon in the form of carbon dioxide is fixed into organic carbon through photosynthesis. Respiration is the reverse process and ...
Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) usually takes the form of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3), and plays a key part in the ocean carbon cycle. [36] This biologically fixed carbon is used as a protective coating for many planktonic species (coccolithophores, foraminifera) as well as larger marine organisms (mollusk shells).
Ocean chlorophyll concentration as a proxy for marine primary production. Green indicates where there are a lot of phytoplankton, while blue indicates where there are few phytoplankton. – NASA Earth Observatory 2019. [1] Marine primary production is the chemical synthesis in the ocean of organic compounds from atmospheric or dissolved carbon ...