Abstract
Ocean acidification is a global phenomenon with highly regional spatial and temporal patterns. In order to address the challenges of future ocean acidification at a regional scale, it is necessary to increase the resolution of spatial and temporal monitoring of the inorganic carbon system beyond what is currently available. One approach is to develop empirical regional models that enable aragonite saturation state to be estimated from existing hydrographic measurements, for which greater spatial coverage and longer time series exist in addition to higher spatial and temporal resolution. We present such a relationship for aragonite saturation state for waters off Northern California based on in situ bottle sampling and instrumental measurements of temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Application of this relationship to existing datasets (5 to 200 m depth) demonstrates both seasonal and interannual variability in aragonite saturation state. We document a deeper aragonite saturation horizon and higher near surface aragonite saturation state in the summers of 2014 and 2015 (compared with 2010–2013), associated with anomalous warm conditions and decadal scale oscillations. Application of this model to time series data reiterates the direct association between low aragonite saturation state and upwelled waters and highlights the extent to which benthic communities on the Northern California shelf are already exposed to aragonite undersaturated waters.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank D. Dann, M.G. Susner, D. Lipski, J. Roletto, and the crew of the R/V Fulmar for assistance in the field and A. Ninokawa and J. Hosfelt for laboratory support. The authors would also like to thank E. Sanford, J. Hower, M. Elliott, and N. Karnovsky.
All oceanographic data are available upon request from the Bodega Marine Laboratory (Bodega Line/BOON) and Point Blue (ACCESS: http://www.pointblue.org/datasharing).
Funding
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation OCE No. 144451 to TMH and California Sea Grant R/HCME-04 to JLL. Support for BOON and the Bodega Line data was received from UC Davis, Sonoma County Water Agency, and the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS).
This research was supported in part by the Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS) partnership, a continuing collaboration between Point Blue Conservation Science, the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The authors thank the Angell Family Foundation, Bently Foundation, Bonnel Cove Foundation, Boring Family Foundation, Elinor Paterson Baker Trust, Faucett Catalyst Fund, Firedoll Foundation, Hellman Family Foundation, Moore Family Foundation, Pacific Life Foundation, Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation, Wendy P. McCaw Foundation, Thelma Doelger Trust, and the many Point Blue donors who have helped fund ACCESS work over the years. This is Point Blue Conservation Science contribution number 2106 and a contribution of Bodega Marine Laboratory.
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Davis, C.V., Hewett, K., Hill, T.M. et al. Reconstructing Aragonite Saturation State Based on an Empirical Relationship for Northern California. Estuaries and Coasts 41, 2056–2069 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0372-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0372-0