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Nearshore Carbonate Dissolution in the Hawaiian Archipelago?

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Abstract

Inorganic carbon measurements made in the late 1980s suggest that alkalinity in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Archipelago is elevated relative to the oligotrophic waters of the North Pacific. These observations have been interpreted as evidence for a “halo” of elevated carbonate saturation state produced by the dissolution of highly soluble magnesium calcites and aragonite on the island platform or in the water column surrounding the islands. If present, this “halo” has implications for air–sea carbon dioxide exchange in Hawaiian waters and may impact the response of coral reef communities to the acidification of the surface waters of the global ocean. The purpose of this study was to assess the magnitude and extent of the elevated calcium carbonate saturation state observed on previous expeditions to this region. Transects were conducted near several atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands from shallow water adjacent to the forereef to the open ocean 15 km from the island. Hydrographic profiles were collected at each station, and discrete water samples were collected for the measurement of carbon system parameters necessary to compute calcium carbonate saturation state. Our data were compared with observations made at the Hawaii Ocean Time-series site at Station ALOHA and with hydrographic data collected on the WOCE lines in the North Pacific around the archipelago. We did not detect a carbonate dissolution halo around the islands. We conclude that the previously observed halo was probably an analytical artifact, or possibly a result of extreme variability in carbon chemistry surrounding the islands.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, through the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. We would like to thank our colleagues Coulson Lantz, Andreas Andersson, Fred Mackenzie, and Marlin Atkinson for technical assistance and for many fruitful discussions. We would also like to thank Sarah Davis and Caitlin Miles for assistance with collection and analysis of samples.

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  1. College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Hawai’i Pacific University, 45-045 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, HI, 96744, USA

    Robert W. Thompson, Samuel E. Kahng & Christopher D. Winn

  2. Department of Oceanography, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai’i, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Robert W. Thompson

  3. Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Andrew G. Dickson

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  1. Robert W. Thompson
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Correspondence to Robert W. Thompson.

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Thompson, R.W., Dickson, A.G., Kahng, S.E. et al. Nearshore Carbonate Dissolution in the Hawaiian Archipelago?. Aquat Geochem 20, 467–481 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-014-9230-2

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