Carbonate production budgets

This chapter summarizes the most recent compilations of carbonate reservoir size in the ocean and sediments, as well as the particulate and dissolved fluxes (Fig. 9.5) provided by the above mentioned authors. Coral reefs are probably the best documented shallow-water carbonate environment. Carbonate production on reef flats range as high as 10.000 g CaCOj m yr , with a global mean of about 1800 g CaCOj myr . Totally this amounts to 24.5 10 molyr (Table 9.1) from which 14.5-10 mol yr accumulate and 10-10 mol yr are transported to the deep-sea either by particulate or dissolved export. One of the most uncertain numbers in all these budget calculations are the estimates of the global carbonate production in... 

Lindberg, B. and Mienert, J., 2005. Postglacial carbonate production by cold-water corals on the Norwegian Shelf and their role in the global carbonate budget. Geology, 33(7) 537-540, doi 10.1130/G21577.1. 

The role of carbon dioxide in the Earth s radiation budget merits this interest in atmospheric CO2. There are, however, other changes of importance. The atmospheric methane concentration is increasing, probably as a result of increasing cattle populations, rice production, and biomass burning (Crutzen, 1983). Increasing methane concentrations are important because of the role it plays in stratospheric and... 

Milliman JD (1993) Production and accumulation of calcium carbonate in the ocean budget of a non-steady state. Global Geochem Cycles 7 927-957... 

Joiris, C., Billen, G., Lancelot, C., Dard, M.H., Mommaerts, J.P., Bertels, A., Bosicart, M., Nijs, J. and Hecq, J.H., 1982. A budget of carbon cycling in the Belgian coastal zone relative roles of zooplankton, bacterioplankton and benthos in the utilization of primary production. Neth. J. Sea Res., 16 260-275. 

There is now the possibility of estimating the carbon budget by using data of satellite observations of ocean color made with SeaWiFS and MODIS instruments calibrated by comparing them with observations by the Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY) (Lavender et al., 1998, 2005 Pinkerton et al., 2003). Calibration ensures that errors in the retrieval of chlorophyll concentration in seawater do not exceed 6%, which makes it possible to substantially raise the reliability of estimates of primary production and, hence, of the carbon budget. 

Kaldy, J.F., Onuf, C.P., Eldridge, P.M., and Cifuentes, L.A. (2002) Carbon budget for a subtropical dominated coastal lagoon how important are seagrasses to total ecosystem net primary production Estuaries 25, 528-539. 

Tomasko, D.A., and Dunton, K.H. (1995) Primary productivity in Halodule wrightii a comparison of techniques based on daily carbon budgets. Estuaries 18, 271-278. 

Whereas on Earth, PAHs and related species such as (benzo[a]pyrene) are considered as highly carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic, and therefore resemble unwanted by-product in combustion processes, the situation in quite reversed in hydrocarbon-rich atmospheres of planets and their moons, as well as in the interstellar medium. Here, PAH-like species are thought to contribute to the unidentified infrared emission bands (UIBs) observed between 3 and 15 )o,m. " Itis also estimated that PAHs and related molecules such as their radicals, ionized PAHs, and heteroaromatic PAH make up to 20% of the total cosmic carbon budget. Also, the role of PAHs in astrobiology should be noted. ... 

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