Phase heterogeneity in carbonate production by marine fish influences their roles in sediment generation and the inorganic carbon cycle.

ABSTRACT: Marine teleost fish are important carbonate producers in neritic and oceanic settings. However, the fates of the diverse carbonate phases (i.e., mineral and amorphous forms of CaCO₃) they produce, and their roles in sediment production and marine inorganic carbon cycling, remain poorly understood. Here we quantify the carbonate phases produced by 22 Bahamian fish species and integrate these data with regional fish biomass data from The Bahamas to generate a novel platform-scale production model that resolves these phases. Overall carbonate phase proportions, ordered by decreasing phase stability, are: ~20% calcite, ~6% aragonite, ~60% high-Mg calcite, and ~14% amorphous carbonate. We predict that these phases undergo differing fates, with at least ~14% (amorphous carbonate) like

SUBMITTER: Salter MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5429630 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature