Chemical lysocline

Morse J.W. (1974) Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in seawater. V Effects of natural inhibitors and the position of the chemical lysocline. Amer. J. Sci. 274, 638-647. 

Chen C.-T. A. (2002) Shelf vs. dissolution-generated alkalinity above the chemical lysocline. Deep-Sea Res. II 49, 5365-5375. 

It is also important to keep in mind that the relation between the saturation state of seawater and carbonate dissolution kinetics is not a simple first order dependency. Instead it is an exponential of about third to fourth order (e.g., Berner and Morse, 1974). Thus dissolution rates are very sensitive to saturation state. This type of behavior has not only been demonstrated in the laboratory (see Chapter 2), but also has been observed in numerous in situ experiments in which carbonate materials and tests have been suspended in the oceanic water column. The depth at which a rapid increase in dissolution rate with increasing water depth is observed usually has been referred to as the chemical or hydrographic lysocline. In some areas of the ocean it is close to coincident with the FL (e.g., Morse and Berner, 1972). 

In these days following the plate tectonic revolution in natural science, there has been an increased propensity for specialization among scientists. This trend is apparent in the field of study of the geochemistry of sedimentary carbonates. Chemical oceanographers deal with the chemistry of the carbonic acid system in seawater. Some marine geologists and geochemists concern themselves with the relationship between factors controlling the lysocline and carbonate compensation... 

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