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Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Implications for phytoplankton community dynamics and silicate dissolution

Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is an emerging carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that leverages the natural processes of weathering and acid neutralisation to durably store atmospheric CO2 in seawater. OAE can be achieved with a variety of methods, all of which have different environmental implications. One widely considered method utilizes electrochemistry to remove strong acid from seawater, leaving sodium hydroxide (NaOH) behind. This study evaluates the impacts of OAE via NaOH (NaOH-OAE) on a coastal plankton bloom, with particular focus on how macronutrient regeneration in the aftermath of the bloom responds to the perturbation. To investigate this, we enclosed a natural coastal phytoplankton community, including coccolithophores, in nine microcosms. The microcosms were divided into three groups: control, unequilibrated (512.1 ± 2.5 µmol kg-1 alkalinity increase) and equilibrated (499.3 ±5.65 µmol kg-1 alkalinity increase). Light was provided for 11 days to stimulate a bloom (light phase) and lights were turned off thereafter to investigate alkalinity and nutrient changes for 21 days (dark phase). We found no detectable effect of equilibrated NaOH-OAE on phytoplankton community and bacteria abundances determined with flow cytometry but observed a small yet detectable restructuring of phytoplankton communities under unequilibrated conditions. NaOH-OAE had no significant effect on alkalinity, NOx- and phosphate regeneration, but increased silicate regeneration by 64% over 21 days under darkness in the unequilibrated treatments where seawater pH was highest (8.65 relative to 7.92 in the control). Additional dissolution experiments with two diatom species supported this outcome on silicate regeneration for one of the two species, thereby suggesting that the effect is species specific. Our results point towards the potential of NaOH-OAE to influence regeneration of silicate in the surface ocean and thus the growth of diatoms, at least under the very extreme NaOH-OAE conditions simulated here.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
2024-09-30T00:00:00

Identifier

Title
Information and documentation - Digital object identifier system
Citation identifier
ISO 26324:2012

Code
10.25959/NNZB-2322
Codespace
doi.org
Description
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Resource provider

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
7001
Australia

Author

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Butterley, Anita
Private Bag 129
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Author

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Bach, Lennart
Private Bag 129
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Credit
This research was supported by the Australian Research Council Special Research Initiative, Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (Project Number SR200100008). This research was also funded by a Future Fellowship (FT200100846) by the Australian Research Council awarded to LTB.
Status
Completed

Author

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) - Butterley, Anita
Hobart
TAS
7001
Australia
ORCID ID >

Topic category
  • Biota
  • Oceans

Extent

N
S
E
W


Temporal extent

Time period
2023-04-28 2023-09-04
Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned
Keywords (Theme)
  • geoengineering
  • marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR)
Keywords (Taxon)
  • Thalassiosira
  • Skeletonema
Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords, Version 8.5
  • EARTH SCIENCE | BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION | PROTISTS | PLANKTON | PHYTOPLANKTON
  • EARTH SCIENCE | OCEANS | OCEAN CHEMISTRY | BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
  • EARTH SCIENCE | OCEANS | OCEAN CHEMISTRY | SILICATE
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
  • Biological Oceanography
  • Chemical Oceanography

Resource constraints

Use limitation
Data, products and services from IMAS are provided "as is" without any warranty as to fitness for a particular purpose.

Resource constraints

Other constraints
This dataset is the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) through the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).

Resource constraints

Linkage
https://licensebuttons.net/l/by/4.0/88x31.png

License Graphic

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Alternate title
CC-BY
Edition
4.0


>

Website
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

License Text

Other constraints
Cite data as: Butterley, A., & Bach, L. (2024). Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Implications for phytoplankton community dynamics and silicate dissolution [Data set]. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. https://doi.org/10.25959/NNZB-2322
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • CSV

OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS - browse and download available data files

Resource lineage

Statement
This study used Kegland Fermzilla microcosms (55 L conical PET tanks; Ferderer et al., 2022) to examine the effects of alkalinity on plankton communities. Seawater was collected from the Derwent Estuary, Tasmania, in May 2023 (Salinity = 34.49), with microcosms filled by submerging them 1 m below the surface and filtering through a 2 mm mesh. Temperature and salinity were measured with a CTD probe (SonTek Castaway®), and microcosm volumes ranged from 51.72 L to 55.30 L. Microcosms were transported to a temperature-controlled room at 8.5°C. To induce convective mixing, heat belts raised the base temperature to 13-15°C, similar to the conditions at collection. Ten LED light strips provided 236 ± 3 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹ under a 14:10 light:dark cycle, which was turned off on day 11 to induce heterotrophic conditions. The experiment included three treatment groups: (1) Control (M1, M4, M7), (2) Unequilibrated (M2, M5, M8) with 500 μL NaOH per litre, and (3) Equilibrated (M3, M6, M9) with 423 μL NaHCO₃ and 77 μL NaOH per litre, calculated using carbonate chemistry via seacarb (Gattuso et al., 2021). Approximately 4,000 Emiliania huxleyi cells (strain CS1127) were added per litre, cultured under controlled conditions and acclimated to experimental settings. Additionally, 480 μM nitrate and 30 μM phosphate were added to induce an algal bloom. Sampling occurred daily (0900-1100), with each microcosm stirred before collection. Nutrients (NOx-, phosphate, silicic acid) were measured via spectrophotometry (Hansen and Koroleff, 1999), and carbonate chemistry (pHT, TA, DIC, Ω) was calculated using seacarb using the pH that had been taken and the total alkalinity using a Metrohm 914 pH meter and a Metrohm 862 Compact Titrosampler. respectively. Chlorophyll a (Chl-a), biogenic silica (BSi), and total particulate carbon (TPC) were filtered and analyzed. Flow cytometry was completed using a CYTEK Aurora flow cytometer and was used to distinguish phytoplankton groups and bacterial abundance based on light scatter and fluorescence. Phytoplankton biovolume was estimated following Selfe (2022), and bacterial samples were stained with SYBR Green I. An additional silicon (Si) dissolution experiment was conducted using monocultures of Skeletonema and Thalassiosira, chosen for their different aggregate-forming characteristics. Cultures were grown in filtered seawater with 480 µM nitrate, 480 µL silicic acid, and 30 µM phosphate. Alkalinity was increased by 500 μmol kg⁻¹ following seacarb calculations. Cultures were rotated to encourage aggregate formation and kept in a dark, temperature-controlled room at 15°C for 36 days. Parameters such as pHT, BSi, TPC, DSi, and TA were measured at the beginning and end of the experiment.
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/918792b2-7d26-417f-b279-606d1a7868fc

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distributor

IMAS Data Manager - Data Officer
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
7001
Australia
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) website >

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Name
IMAS Dataset level record
Metadata linkage
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/918792b2-7d26-417f-b279-606d1a7868fc

Point of truth URL of this metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2024-09-26T00:00:00
Date info (Revision)
2024-09-30T12:05:18

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3:2018
 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

geoengineering marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC): Fields of Research
Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography
Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords, Version 8.5
EARTH SCIENCE | BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION | PROTISTS | PLANKTON | PHYTOPLANKTON EARTH SCIENCE | OCEANS | OCEAN CHEMISTRY | BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES EARTH SCIENCE | OCEANS | OCEAN CHEMISTRY | SILICATE

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