Carbonated Oceans (2021 Version)

For an introductory college-level oceanography class. Review of the sources, sinks, and impacts of carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans.

**This video comes near the middle of the semester, so there may be terms with which the audience is unfamiliar. For a full playlist, refer to the Oceanography playlist on the Earth Rocks! YouTube Channel.

Content within this video is based on information available in any standard introductory college oceanography textbook, such as Essentials of Oceanography -- Trujillo and Thurman – Pearson Publishing.

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2021 Version. Revisions were necessary because the data on carbon dioxide levels in the oceans has improved -- we have a better idea now of how carbon dioxide varies with depth worldwide. Also, the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere went from 350 ppm when video was first published in February 2015 to over 400 ppm in 2021.

[ricclayton]

A question: during the Cretaceous period a lot of limestone was laid down (ie. White Cliffs of Dover, ), due to an abundance of coccoliths a calcium carbonate based critter, yet there was apparently high levels of Co2 in the atmosphere. Should this have not made the oceans very acidic hence destroying any calcium based organism. I have never figured out this conundrum.

[juanrojas]

I can’t believe I’m so interested in the stuff I was so unenthusiastic to learn when I was actually taking the class, and now I love learning it

[talesoftheblueeyedindian]

I really would like to see you revisit minerals and rocks etc... I love your videos and that area particularly seems to be a strong suit of yours in views. Whatever you do, keep posting content! The time is now for information!

[moretimethanmoney]

An excellent presentation. Warmer oceans will hold less CO2. Land plants will benefit... if we stop destroying their water availabilty by removing forests.

[edwardlulofs]

This is very good. In the beginning, I had trouble visualizing the H2O combining with the CO2. The manual removal of the atoms made the structural chemical changes much more clear. A small point for me was that I had trouble mentally maintaining the data of which color was which atom. I know that the color was arbitrary. But for a demo, it would add to my understanding to use a marker to draw the letters C, H, O on the atoms so it could always be seen. I have a more visual memory than verbal memory. Thanks.

[garyha]

"(AMOC) has weakened by 15-20% in 200 years", that's the flow and vertical churn of ocean waters.
Doesn't ocean slowing mean warmer upper waters that absorb less heat and leaving more CO2 in the air or even emitting CO2 into the air more often?
The world uses 745, 162 pounds of fertilizer on farms per minute (worldfoodclock), and since much of it is nitrogen fertilizer which acidifies and is running off into the oceans eventually, shouldn't we be expecting to see a really dramatic ocean pH change to far less alkaline than the current pH 8.11 vs historical values going back hundreds and thousands of years?

[nxgrs]

The pH scale is log so every whole number is a power/factor of ten.

By definition pH is the negative exponent of the hydrogen ion concentration.

For instance, pH 9 is 10^-9 or 1 part per billion,

pH 8 is 10^-8 or 10 parts per billion,

To go from pH 9 to pH 8 is factor of 10 or 1, 000%!!!! Makes 26% look trivial.

Ocean “acidification” of pH 8.2 to pH 8.1 is a decrease in alkalinity equal to 1 ppb of H ions.

I’m fairly certain the ocean flora and fauna don’t even notice.

[richardrobertson]

Very well done. May I make a couple of observations? First, the most important gas dissolved in the ocean is not carbon dioxide. That's a political statement. If CO2 were to rise in the ocean, the excess would quickly combine with calcium ions and precipitate as lime . . . hence all the mountains of the earth made of limestone, dolomite and marble. Oxygen is the most important gas dissolved in ocean water. Without oxygen all fish would die within minutes. Second, calcium carbonate (the stuff shells are made of) as well as much of the ocean floor "sand", acts as a buffer or regulator of the ocean's acid or pH. Carbon dioxide is simply along for the ride, which is a short ride because of the huge amount of calcium ions in ocean water (again, ready to combine with the carbonic ions and form lime and quickly settle to the ocean floor and become limestone). Most mountain ranges on earth's dry land areas are made of limestone. That means these rocks were once atmospheric carbon dioxide combined with dissolved calcium (limestone and marble are made of calcium carbonate) sitting at the bottom of the oceans. And that's earth's natural buffer and "filter", naturally removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for eons of time as rocks (limestone, dolomite and marble) with no governmental subsidies or fossil fuel pipeline disruption. Thanks for posting, and . . . YES . . .I am a new subscriber.

[davec]

that's a lot to take in for a laymen but I think I get it, thank you