Factors controlling the rate of CaCO3 precipitation on Great Bahama Bank

Abstract

Measurements by Langdon et al. [2000] in the man‐made mesocosm coral reef at Biosphere 2's ocean reveal a strong dependence of calcification rate on the degree of supersaturation of CaCO3 in seawater. A similar trend was previously encountered on the Bahama Banks, where Halimeda and other calcifiers are likely responsible for aragonite precipitation [Broecker and Takahashi, 1966]. In this paper we compare these two sets of results and conclude that the dependence on saturation state is significant but less strong in the Bahamas. However, it must be kept in mind that to some extent, the reduction in CaCO3 precipitation on the Bahama Banks may be due to impact of higher salinity on the growth of the calcifying algae. However, if, as many sedimentologists are convinced, the precipitation of CaCO3 on the Bahama Banks is inorganic [Macintyre and Reid, 1992; Milliman et al., 1993], then the comparison of the Bahamas and Biosphere 2 results for dependence of calcification rate on saturation state is telling us something quite different.