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I found this (https://phys.org/news/2022-05-diatoms-threat-decline-due-ocean.html https://phys.org/news/2022-05-diatoms-threat-decline-due-oce...), which is pos
by pygy_ 4y ago
I found this (https://phys.org/news/2022-05-diatoms-threat-decline-due-ocean.html https://phys.org/news/2022-05-diatoms-threat-decline-due-oce...), which is possibly concerning for diatoms:
> As a result of ocean acidification, the silicon shells of diatoms dissolve more slowly. This is not an advantage—it causes diatoms to sink into deeper water layers, before they chemically dissolve and are converted back into silica. Consequently, this nutrient is more efficiently exported to the deep ocean and thus becomes scarcer in the light-flooded surface layer, where it is needed to form new shells. This causes a decline in diatoms, according to the scientists in their recent publication.
The paper predicts a modest 13–26% decline by 2200 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04687-0 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04687-0
- adrian_b 4y agoYes, this is the right explanation. Because acidification has an opposite effect on silica shells in comparison with aragonite or calcite shells, which prevents the efficient recycling of the dead diatoms, the global effect will be a decrease in the concentration of silicic acid in sea water, which will diminish the abundance of diatoms and of other living beings that need silica.