Seasonal variation of CaCO3 saturation state in bottom water of a biological hotspot in the Chukchi Sea, Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Distribution of calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω) was observed in the Chukchi Sea in autumn 2012 and early summer 2013. Ω in bottom water ranged from 0.3 to 2.0 for aragonite and from 0.5 to 3.2 for calcite in 2012. In 2013, Ω in bottom water was 1.1-2.8 for aragonite and 1.7-4.4 for calcite. Aragonite and calcite undersaturation was found in high productivity regions in autumn 2012 but not in early summer 2013. Comparison with other parameters has indicated that biological processes - respiration and photosynthesis - are major factors controlling the regional and temporal variability of Ω. From these ship-based observations, we have obtained empirical equations to reconstruct Ω from temperature, salinity and apparent oxygen utilization. Using 2-year-round mooring data and these equations, we have reconstructed seasonal variation of Ω in bottom water in Hope Valley, a biological hotspot in the southern Chukchi Sea. Estimated Ω was high in spring and early summer, decreased in later summer, and remained relatively low in winter. Calculations indicated a possibility that bottom water could have been undersaturated for aragonite on an intermittent basis even in the pre-industrial period, and that anthropogenic CO2 has extended the period of aragonite undersaturation to more than 2-fold longer by now.