The Stareso Mesocosm Experiment is part of the European project MedSeA (Mediterranean Sea Acidification in a Changing Climate) and will take place from 4th June to 22nd July 2012 at the Stareso Station located near Calvi (North West of Corsica). The experiment can be followed on a dedicated blog.
During this period nine mesocosms will be deployed right in front of the station. A mesocosm is like a strong plastic bag which will be filled with water and then closed at the bottom, trapping 50,000 liters of seawater and microorganisms. When all the mesocosms are closed, the effect of ocean acidification will be simulated. An increase in carbon dioxide level will be achieved in six mesosms, the three other mesocosms will be controls. CO2 concentrations corresponding to present values (~385 ppm) to values expected for the middle of the next century (1000 – 1250 ppm) will be reached by adding seawater saturated in CO2. The deployment of the mesocosms will take two weeks and will be done by a team from the Laboratoire d’océanographie de Villefranche (LOV).
For the following 4 weeks, scientists from many disciplines will take samples. For this experiment, scientist from 8 institutes and 6 countries will be present.
Laure Maugendre, Stareso Mesocosm Experiment, 5 June 2012. Blog of the experiment.
