WP 3 leader: Toby Tyrrell   tt (at) noc.soton.ac.uk NERC

Objectives:

• Spatial patterns: Determine the present-day spatial distributions of (a) seawater chemistry (pH and carbonate system), and (b) calcareous organisms (input to WP9, WP10 and WP11, to provide initial conditions for basin and shelf-seas models).
• Temporal patterns: From direct measurements of the real ocean over recent years and decades, calculate the rates of change of (a) seawater chemistry (pH and carbonate system), and (b) calcareous organisms. (compare to proxy calculations of industrial era changes, WP2, and to future predicted changes, WP10).
• 'Hotspots': Identify geographical areas where (a) seawater pH is naturally low, (b) seawater is already approaching CaCO3 undersaturation, or (c) seawater pH or saturation state are observed to be in rapid decline (input to inform risks in WP13).
• 'Tipping points': By comparing chemical distributions to organismal distributions, determine the natural range of environmental pH's and saturation states that calcareous organisms are observed to inhabit (input to inform tipping points in WP13)

Description of work and role of participants:

T3.1: Collection of in situ spatial data, quality control, data analysis: (a) from the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas (UiB, UGOT), (b) from the Atlantic Ocean (NERC, HAFRO-MRI), (c) from shelf seas (UiB, NERC), and (d) from the whole area coverage (SAHFOS)

T3.2: Collection of time-series in situ data, quality control, data analysis: (a) N&S of Iceland (HAFRO-MRI), (b) between UK and Spain (NERC), (c) Mediterranean (LOV), and (d) whole area coverage (SAHFOS)

T3.3: Data mining of Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) data for NE Atlantic basin and adjacent regions over last 30-50 years (SAHFOS, UNIVBRIS)

T3.4: Synthesis through dataset collation, analysis and comparison (NERC, IOC-UNESCO)

T3.5: Provision of platform to allow additional measurements in conjunction with provided carbonate chemistry (NERC; service to other WPs)