Carbonate Compensation Dynamics in the Past and Future

我的研究计划正在经历一个根本性的方向转变。 从三十年的沉积物建模过程中，我决定专注于影响我们社会的大规模海洋相关问题。 具体来说，我选择从预测海洋酸化开始。 酸度的增加正在并将对海洋生物产生深远的、主要是负面的影响。 这种酸性的来源是人为产生的二氧化碳在大气中的积累及其随后被海洋吸收。 在海洋中有一个自然的中和过程，称为补偿，它涉及以前沉积在海底的碳酸钙的溶解。 但是，中和与酸的输入速率不同步。 我们需要更好和更充分地了解中和的机制及其发生的时间尺度。 我目前的研究计划的目标是调查和理解这些机制，包括它们的时间尺度和它们对地球化学环境的影响。

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.