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♤ Deep, cold ocean waters are naturally under saturated with carbonate ions causing the shells of most calcifying organisms to dissolve.
♤ Surface waters are over saturated with carbonate ions and do not readily dissolve shells of calcifying organisms.
♤ The saturation horizon is the level below which calcium carbonate minerals undergo dissolution.
♤ Those organisms that can survive below the saturation horizon do so due to special mechanisms to protect their calcium carbonate from dissolving.
♤ As ocean acidification causes this horizon to rise vertically in the water column so more and more calcifying organisms will be exposed to under saturated water and thus vulnerable to dissolution of their shells and skeletons.
♤ The saturation horizon of calcite occurs at a greater ocean depth than that for aragonite, but both horizons have moved closer to the surface presently when compared to the 1800s.
Do you know?
Chameleons are seen inhabiting almost all the parts of south India and west of the Ganges. However, they are rarely seen in areas that receive heavy rainfall. Chameleons are mostly arboreal and are found in trees or on smaller bushes.