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River to Reef: What is controlling coastal carbonate chemistry in a tropical marine environment?

Authors

Cryer,  Sarah
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Brown,  Peter
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Felgate,  Stacey
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Strong,  James Asa
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Carvalho,  Filipa
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Flohr,  Anita
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Loucaides,  Socratis
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Andrews,  Gilbert
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Rosado,  Samir
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Young,  Arlene
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Sanders,  Richard
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Evans,  Claire
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

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Citation

Cryer, S., Brown, P., Felgate, S., Strong, J. A., Carvalho, F., Flohr, A., Loucaides, S., Andrews, G., Rosado, S., Young, A., Sanders, R., Evans, C. (2023): River to Reef: What is controlling coastal carbonate chemistry in a tropical marine environment?, XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) (Berlin 2023).
https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-3303


Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5019697
Abstract
The coastal ocean, the interface between the land and sea is a key environment for the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, yet these heterogeneous environments are historically under sampled. It is now becoming apparent that anthropogenic CO2 induced ocean acidification is an open ocean syndrome and that ocean acidification in the coastal environments is far more complex. In the coastal ocean several processes will drive CO2 trends, such as seawater temperature, biological processes, residence time and air to sea gas exchange. We investigate the distribution and fate of inorganic carbon in a tropical coastal environment, influenced by riverine discharge and local marine habitats – coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves. The Belize River, which drains the largest catchment in Belize, discharges just north of Belize City and is a source of high pCO2 (>2000 µatm) water to the coastal environment. We investigate the process that occur once this low pH (<7.6) water enters the coastal ocean and whether this low pH water, which is corrosive to corals (Ωarag <1), reaches the barrier reef. Using a combination of sensor measurements and discrete samples, we found no evidence that river water reaches the barrier reef, located ~20km offshore. This was due to a number of processes occurring in the coastal ocean, including outgassing of CO2 to the atmosphere and high rates of photosynthesis taking place, likely from benthic seagrass beds.