Abstract
The Amazon River plume plays a critical role in shaping the carbonate chemistry over a vast area in the western tropical North Atlantic. We explore a thought experiment of ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) via hypothetical quicklime addition in the Amazon River watershed, examining the response of carbonate chemistry and air-sea carbon dioxide flux to the alkalinity addition. Through a series of sensitivity tests, we show that the detectability of the OAE-induced alkalinity increment depends on the perturbation strength (or size of the alkalinity addition, ΔTA) and the number of samples: there is a 90 % chance to meet a minimum detectability requirement with ΔTA > 15 μmol kg-1 and sample size > 40, given background variability of 15–30 μmol kg-1. OAE-induced pCO2 reduction at the Amazon plume surface would range between 0–25 μatm when ΔTA = 20 μmol kg-1, decreasing with increasing salinity. Adding 20 μmol kg-1 of alkalinity at the river mouth could elevate the total carbon uptake in the Amazon River plume by 0.07–0.1 MtCO2 month-1. Such thought experiments are useful in designing minimalistic field trials and setting achievable goals for monitoring, reporting, and verification purposes.
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