pH

OA is usually defined as declining pH or Ω over decades or longer timescales 60 (Cooley et al., 2012).
Besides the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration, pH or Ω 61 also can be influenced by other
physical and biogeochemical processes such as river 62 inputs, discharge from municipal wastewater
and submarine groundwater, sea ice 63 melting, upwelling, wind-driven vertical mixing, Ekman
transport and eutrophication 64 (Cai et al., 2017; Cai et al., 2011; Feely et al., 2008; Salisbury et al.,
2008; Wang et al., 65 2014; Xue et al., 2018; Yamamoto-Kawai et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2018).
Therefore, 66 with increasing global change in the ocean it is challenging to decipher the processes
67 that modulate OA rates and predict the acidification rate or extent due to the 68 superimposition
of these processes over the effect of increasing atmospheric CO2. [TA–DIC] could be a proxy for pH
and Ω. First, seawater pH is mainly determined by the relative changes of [CO3 2−] and [CO2 ⁎ ]
since the [HCO3 - 84 ] in seawater is relatively 85 stable.

Although B-Alk also contributes to [TA–DIC], it presents a positive linear relationship with [CO3 2− 87
] (see insert in Fig. 1c and Xue et al. (2017)). Thus, apparently [TA–DIC] reflects the relative changes
of [CO3 2−] and [CO2 ⁎ ] (i.e., [CO3 2− 88 ] − [CO2 ⁎ ] or CO3 2−] / [CO2 ⁎ 89 ]). As a result, in
seawater [TA–DIC] presents a 90 quasi-linear relationship with pH (Fig. 1d). Second, with increasing
pH, seawater [CO3 2−] would increase but [CO2 ⁎ 91 ] would decrease; when the seawater pH is
higher than 0.5* (pK* 1 + pK* 2), i.e., the pH value where [CO3 2-] equals to [CO2 * ], [CO3 2− 92 ]
would be much higher than [CO2 ⁎ ] (K* 1 and K* 93 2 are the first and the second apparent 94
carbonic acid dissociation constants, Fig. 1a). Therefore, when pH is higher than 0.5* (pK* 1 + pK* 2),
[TA–DIC] could reflect the variability of [CO3 2- 95 ] and thus Ω, and 96 would present a linear
relationship with Ω (Fig. 1d ) since Ω in seawater is chiefly determined by [CO3 2− 97 ] (Fig. 1c and
also see Broecker and Peng, 1982).

Salinity
Rising levels of atmospheric C02 lead to acidification of the ocean and alter seawater carbonate
chemistry, which Exposure of the juvenile oysters to elevated PCO2 and / or low salinity led to a
significant increase in the critical salinity seems to be about 35 parts per thousand, which is
approximately the average for the ocean. The calcium carbonate content of the sediments likewise
increases as the temperature increases and as the depth decreases. Salinity affect the influence of
increasing CO2 on oceans or lakes. Seawater with low salinity holds more gas than high salinity
water.

According to Richard Matthews, the salinity of the oceans is connected to CO2. Changes in the
salinity of the oceans contribute to global changes in carbon dioxide as waters with more saline are
less soluble to carbon dioxide.

When salinity increases from 0 to 4 mol aqueous NaCl solutions, the CO2 solubility
decreases by 49%.

DIC was reduced while pH (8.0–8.5) was highest in waters with salinity values of 15–25, suggesting
biological consumption of CO2 in the mid- to lower bay. In the fall and winter, DIC and TA generally
varied linearly in relation to salinity, although the change in pH was small across the salinity gradient
(Fig. 3). At salinity < 2.5, pH decreased greatly, reaching as low as 7.1 in June.