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Example Bjerrum plot: Change in carbonate system of seawater from ocean acidification.. A Bjerrum plot (named after Niels Bjerrum), sometimes also known as a Sillén diagram (after Lars Gunnar Sillén), or a Hägg diagram (after Gunnar Hägg) [1] is a graph of the concentrations of the different species of a polyprotic acid in a solution, as a function of pH, [2] when the solution is at ...
This process is known as thermohaline circulation. In the Earth's polar regions ocean water gets very cold, forming sea ice. As a consequence the surrounding seawater gets saltier, because when sea ice forms, the salt is left behind. As the seawater gets saltier, its density increases, and it starts to sink.
For his 1934 paper, Alfred Redfield analyzed nitrate and phosphate data for the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific oceans and Barents Sea. [1] As a Harvard physiologist, Redfield participated in several voyages on board the research vessel Atlantis, analyzing data for C, N, and P content in marine plankton, and referenced data collected by other researchers as early as 1898.
The balance of these carbonate species (which ultimately affects the solubility of carbon dioxide), is dependent on factors such as pH, as shown in a Bjerrum plot.In seawater this is regulated by the charge balance of a number of positive (e.g. Na +, K +, Mg 2+, Ca 2+) and negative (e.g. CO 3 2− itself, Cl −, SO 4 2−, Br −) ions.
The average density at the surface is 1.025 kg/L. Seawater is denser than both fresh water and pure water (density 1.0 kg/L at 4 °C (39 °F)) because the dissolved salts increase the mass by a larger proportion than the volume. The freezing point of seawater decreases as salt concentration increases.
A change in pH by 0.1 represents a 26% increase in hydrogen ion concentration in the world's oceans (the pH scale is logarithmic, so a change of one in pH units is equivalent to a tenfold change in hydrogen ion concentration). Sea-surface pH and carbonate saturation states vary depending on ocean depth and location.
The fact that two 100 degree measurements were taken on consecutive days lends credence to them, McNoldy said. Water temperatures have been in the upper 90s in the area for more than two weeks.
The decreasing saturation of seawater with respect to calcium carbonate, associated with ocean acidification, a result of increased carbon dioxide (CO 2) absorption by the oceans, poses a significant threat to marine calcifiers. As CO 2 concentrations in seawater rise, a decrease in pH and a reduction in carbonate ion concentrations in seawater ...