Type
ArticleAuthors
Mongin, MathieuBaird, Mark E.
Tilbrook, Bronte
Matear, Richard J.
Lenton, Andrew
Herzfeld, Mike
Wild-Allen, Karen
Skerratt, Jenny
Margvelashvili, Nugzar
Robson, Barbara J.
Duarte, Carlos M.

Gustafsson, Malin S. M.
Ralph, Peter J.
Steven, Andrew D. L.
KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Date
2016-02-23Online Publication Date
2016-02-23Print Publication Date
2016-04Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/597083
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is founded on reef-building corals. Corals build their exoskeleton with aragonite, but ocean acidification is lowering the aragonite saturation state of seawater (Ωa). The downscaling of ocean acidification projections from global to GBR scales requires the set of regional drivers controlling Ωa to be resolved. Here we use a regional coupled circulation–biogeochemical model and observations to estimate the Ωa experienced by the 3,581 reefs of the GBR, and to apportion the contributions of the hydrological cycle, regional hydrodynamics and metabolism on Ωa variability. We find more detail, and a greater range (1.43), than previously compiled coarse maps of Ωa of the region (0.4), or in observations (1.0). Most of the variability in Ωa is due to processes upstream of the reef in question. As a result, future decline in Ωa is likely to be steeper on the GBR than currently projected by the IPCC assessment report.Citation
The exposure of the Great Barrier Reef to ocean acidification 2016, 7:10732 Nature CommunicationsSponsors
This study was undertaken with the support of CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, and through resources made available through the eReefs project, the CSIRO Marine and Coastal Carbon Biogeochemistry Cluster, and the Australian Climate Change Science Program. The observations at Yongala were sourced as part of the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS)—IMOS is supported by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy and the Super Science Initiative. We thank Sven Uthicke for making his observations publically available, Professorss Tom Trull and Sabina Belli for their constructive comments on the manuscript, Miles Furnas who willingly shared his knowledge of the region and provided observations and three anonymous reviewers.Publisher
Springer NatureJournal
Nature CommunicationsPubMed ID
26907171Additional Links
http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/ncomms10732ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/ncomms10732
Scopus Count
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