DONEY-DangersOceanAcidification-2006

Article Questions – Intro & ‘Ocean Chemistry 101?’ page 60-63

1. What does the combination of carbon dioxide and water create and where is it also found?
Include the chemical name.

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Carbonic acid (H3CO3) which is a weak acid also found in carbonated drinks

2. What does this acid release? List 3.

Hydrogen ions (H+), bicarbonate ions (HCO3-1) and to a less extent, carbonate ions (CO3-2)

3. What are the two techniques used to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

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Testing air bubbles trapped in glacial ice and testing the atmosphere

4. What is tested to get a pH measurement?

The concentration of hydrogen ions

5. What does a drop of 1 pH unit correspond to?

A 10-foldincrease in the concentration of hydrogen ions

6. What affect does this drop have on water?

Makes it more acidic

7. What is the Neutral pH of fresh pure water?

7

8. What is the pH of pristine seawater between?

8 to 8.3

9. What is the current decrease in pH for the ocean’s surface?

0.1

10. How can we slow/stop this decrease?

Change the way we use fossil fuels/stop using fossil fuels

11. How much lower is the pH expected to fall by 2100?

0.3

12. Why are some marine organisms at risk, what do they depend on and why?

They depend on the presence of carbonate ions to build shells

13. What will these marine organisms have difficulty doing in acidic waters?

Organisms will have difficulty growing

14. What are some examples of the organisms that will be affected? Give 3 examples.

Cocolithophorids, foraminifera, and pteropods

 15. Why are these organisms important?

The are a major food source for fish and marine mammals

16. Why are corals at risk?

They have calcium carbonate skeletons

17. What are some of the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems in the ocean

Coral reefs

18. What is the largest biological structure in the world?

The Great Barrier Reef

19. What causes coral bleaching?

Rise in water temperature

20. Looking at the map, where might be good places for scientists to study the effects of low pH
levels?

In the areas of natural upwelling, such as the east equatorial pacific