Climate and human-driven changes and associated impacts on the biogeochemical cycles in the marine ecosystems
The ocean constitutes a key reservoir, which mitigates the accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere. Ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 (CANT) alters ocean chemistry, leading to more acidic conditions and lower chemical saturation states for calcium carbonate minerals, a process commonly termed “ocean acidification”. The active role of Mediterranean Sea in the of atmospheric CO2 sequestration and the impact of the ocean acidification on marine organisms is of theme of great interest for the scientists of the department of marine chemistry. Climate- and human-driven changes in ocean properties and associated impacts on biogeochemical cycles and marine ecosystems, is a long standing research direction at the department of marine ChemistryDuring the last decades, Total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (CT ) and Total Alkalinity (AT ) were determined, with precise methods, in seawater samples collected in the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean- Ionian-Levantine) in order to provide both knowledge and reference for further investigation on the carbonate system. The realized mesocosm experiments allowed to record the reaction of marine organisms to the ocean acidification in Mediterranean Sea.
