Ocean Acidification

A distinct gap in our ability to understand changes in coastal biology that may be associated with recent ocean acidification is the paucity of directly measured ocean environmental parameters at coastal sites in recent decades. Thus, many researchers have turned to sclerochronological reconstructions of water chemistry to document the historical seawater environment. In this study, we explore the relationships between B/Ca and pH to test the feasibility of B/Ca measured on the ion probe as a pH proxy in the California mussel, Mytilus californianus. We compare the M. californianus B/Ca record to directly measured environmental data during mussel growth 1999–2009 to determine the correlation between B/Ca and seawater chemistry and discuss methods for assigning sample chronology when sampling an organism with variable growth rates.

McCoy S. J., Robinson L. F., Pfister C. A., Wootton J. T., & Shimizu N., 2011. Exploring B/Ca as a pH proxy in bivalves: relationships between Mytilus californianus B/Ca and environmental data from the northeast Pacific. Biogeosciences Discussions 8(3):5587-5616. Article.