Alkalinity Increase in the Arabian Gulf

Abstract

Ocean acidification is an issue that is becoming of increasing global concern due to the dramatic impact it has on marine life wellness as well as economy. The Arabian Gulf uses pearl oysters and coral reefs as a major portion of economy and has not been studied for its carbonate chemistry since 1977. For this reason, there is motivation to study this area in particular. Despite finding total carbon and alkalinity levels that suggest CaCO3 formation, past studies have found that there are no carbonate plankton species in the gulf. In this study, we suggest that CaCO3 is forming in-situ similar to heterogenous CaCO3 precipitation possibly due to desalination processes.