Andersson and Mackenzie (2011) cite our talk on “Carbonate sediments on Antarctic shelves and implications for a mechanism to buffer Ocean Acidification in the Southern Ocean” at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting in San Juan, Puer to Rico, in February 2011 (Hauck et al., 2011) as an example for investigating possible buffering effects by CaCO3 dissolution of shelf sediments.
We agree with the authors in their recommendations that the points “evidence of a buffer effect“ (when the seawater is already undersaturated with respect to CaCO3 ), “kinetics“, and “physical mixing“ should be considered in studies addressing a possible buffer effect. We would like to add another step (Step Zero), which has to happen even before these considerations: proper quantification of how much CaCO3 is available in the region considered and identification of the mineral composition (aragonite, calcite, magnesium rich calcites). This very first step is what we presented at the ASLO Meeting (Hauck et al., 2011).
We would also like to add that a discussion on the (global) buffering capacity of shallow carbonates as general as applied by Andersson et al. (2003) might not be applicable to all regions of the World Ocean as various relevant factors (mineral composition, physical mixing, temperature effects on thermodynamic equilibria and kinetics) may be different from the global mean in one specific region, e.g., Andersson et al. (2007) found an example where alkalinity accumulation occurs in Devil’s Hole, Bermuda.
Second, the authors (p. 6173, line 17ff) recommend to “keep in mind that most of the anthropogenic CO2 absorbed by the oceans is taken up in the open ocean and is not available for dissolution of shallow-water carbonate phases unless the acidified water is upwelled and/or onwelled into coastal waters.“ This is not the case in the Southern Ocean; here a large portion of the CO2 is taken up along the shelf and only on the shelf anthropogenic CO2 is able to penetrate down to depths of ca. 1000 m (Hauck et al., 2010; Arrigo et al., 2008).
The article of Loáiciga (2006) is ’Based on inappropriate assumptions and erroneous thermodynamic calculations …’ (see comment by Caldeira et al., 2007) and should not be cited without the comment by Caldeira et al. (2007), if at all. It is o.k. to critize our work, however, we feel affronted by citing Loáiciga (2006) and Hauck et al. (2011) in the same sentence.
References:
Andersson Mackenzie (2011): Ocean acidification: setting the record straight. Biogeosciences Discussions 8, 6161 – 6190, doi:10.5194/bgd-8-6161-2011.
Andersson, A. J., Mackenzie, F. T., and Ver, L. M. (2003): Solution of shallow-water carbonates: an insignificant buffer against rising atmospheric CO2 , Geology, 31, 513– 516.
Andersson, A. J., Bates, N. R., and Mackenzie, F. T. (2007): Dissolution of carbonate sediments under rising pCO2 and ocean acidification: observations from Devil’s Hole, Bermuda, Aquat. Geochem., 13, 237–264.
Arrigo, K. R., G. van Dijken, and M. Long (2008): Coastal Southern Ocean: A strong anthropogenic CO2 sink, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L21602, doi:10.1029/2008GL035624.
Caldeira, K., et al. (2007), Comment on “Modern-age buildup of CO2 and its effects on seawater acidity and salinity” by Hugo A. Loáiciga, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L18608, doi:10.1029/2006GL027288.
Hauck, J., Hillenbrand, C. D., Hoppema, M., Kuhn, G., Nehrke, G., and Wolf-Gladrow, D. (2011): Carbonate sediments on Antarctic shelves and implications for a mechanism to buffer ocean acidification in the Southern Ocean, Book of Abstracts, Aquatic Sciences Meeting, 13–18 February, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2011.
Hauck, J., M. Hoppema, R. G. J. Bellerby, C. Völker, and D. Wolf-Gladrow (2010): Data-based estimation of anthropogenic carbon and acidification in the Weddell Sea on a decadal timescale, J. Geophys. Res., 115, C03004, doi:10.1029/2009JC005479.
Loáiciga, H. A.: Modern age buildup of CO2 and its effects on seawater acidity and salinity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L10605, doi:10.1029/2006GL026305, 2006.
Hauck J., 2011. Interactive comment on “Ocean acidification: setting the record straight” by A. J. Andersson and F. T. Mackenzie. Biogeosciences Discussions 8: C2056–C2059. Interactive comment.
