Carbonate Compensation Dynamics in the Past and Future

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My research program is undergoing a radical change of direction. From three decades of modelling processes in sediments, I have decided to focus on large scale ocean-related problems that impact our society. Specifically, I have chosen to start with predicting acidification of the oceans. The increased acidity is having and will have profound, largely negative, effects on the biology of the Oceans. The source of this acidity is the build-up of man-produced CO2 in the atmosphere and its subsequent adsorption by the Oceans. There is a natural neutralization process acting in the Oceans, called compensation, which involves dissolution of previously deposited calcium carbonate on the seafloor. However, the neutralization is out of synchronization with the input rate of acid. We need to understand better and more fully the mechanics of the neutralization and the time scales on which it will occur. It is the goal of my current research program to investigate and comprehend these mechanisms, including their time scales and their consequences to the earth's chemical environment.