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Explosive volcanism as a cause for mass mortality of pteropods

Explosive volcanism as a cause for mass mortality of pteropods
Explosive volcanism as a cause for mass mortality of pteropods
Recently, it has been proposed that anthropogenic CO2 emissions may affect marine ecosystems by causing ocean acidification. In particular, it is suggested that within acidified waters, calcifying organisms would be subject to malformation and enhanced dissolution. Here, we present evidence suggesting that this process occurs naturally where explosive volcanism deposits ash directly into ocean surface waters. Sediment cores from around the island of Montserrat, Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, contain distinct horizons of planktic fauna associated with recently deposited volcanic ash layers from the Soufrière Hills volcano. Within these layers are abundant thecosome pteropod shells that display evidence of partial dissolution and etching of their aragonitic shells, and appear to have suffered mass mortality during large eruptions from the volcano. Laboratory studies show that the acids bound to ash surfaces from the 2003 volcanic dome collapse event of the Soufrière Hills volcano could have caused the upper 5 m of the water column to become undersaturated with respect to aragonite. When combined with the large fluxes of acidic aerosols (principally as SO2) from the volcano during eruptions, it is proposed that volcanogenic ocean acidification by marine ash falls is a significant contributing factor to these observed mass mortality events.
pteropod, soufrière hills volcano, montserrat, ocean acidification, ash-leachates, explosive volcanism
0025-3227
231-239
Wall-Palmer, Deborah
c99bfc4a-a64f-489f-93d2-3517beafd554
Jones, Morgan T.
cf1c7a87-0578-4e4b-8708-a22a5b9e7df4
Hart, Malcolm B.
1ed16a38-3047-4ed5-b8a4-8f426c3d2023
Fisher, Jodie K.
e47d15b2-a931-4ff5-bace-1e3c17cbc5af
Smart, Christopher W.
7cb76d81-800c-41aa-9355-1e7847bc711d
Hembury, Deborah J.
0109956f-e7be-4eb0-8031-34278cecb164
Palmer, Martin R.
d2e60e81-5d6e-4ddb-a243-602537286080
Fones, Gary R.
304f9c63-0e4d-4b0b-9240-8a9e8dd2bf85
Wall-Palmer, Deborah
c99bfc4a-a64f-489f-93d2-3517beafd554
Jones, Morgan T.
cf1c7a87-0578-4e4b-8708-a22a5b9e7df4
Hart, Malcolm B.
1ed16a38-3047-4ed5-b8a4-8f426c3d2023
Fisher, Jodie K.
e47d15b2-a931-4ff5-bace-1e3c17cbc5af
Smart, Christopher W.
7cb76d81-800c-41aa-9355-1e7847bc711d
Hembury, Deborah J.
0109956f-e7be-4eb0-8031-34278cecb164
Palmer, Martin R.
d2e60e81-5d6e-4ddb-a243-602537286080
Fones, Gary R.
304f9c63-0e4d-4b0b-9240-8a9e8dd2bf85

Wall-Palmer, Deborah, Jones, Morgan T., Hart, Malcolm B., Fisher, Jodie K., Smart, Christopher W., Hembury, Deborah J., Palmer, Martin R. and Fones, Gary R. (2011) Explosive volcanism as a cause for mass mortality of pteropods. Marine Geology, 282 (3-4), 231-239. (doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2011.03.001).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Recently, it has been proposed that anthropogenic CO2 emissions may affect marine ecosystems by causing ocean acidification. In particular, it is suggested that within acidified waters, calcifying organisms would be subject to malformation and enhanced dissolution. Here, we present evidence suggesting that this process occurs naturally where explosive volcanism deposits ash directly into ocean surface waters. Sediment cores from around the island of Montserrat, Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, contain distinct horizons of planktic fauna associated with recently deposited volcanic ash layers from the Soufrière Hills volcano. Within these layers are abundant thecosome pteropod shells that display evidence of partial dissolution and etching of their aragonitic shells, and appear to have suffered mass mortality during large eruptions from the volcano. Laboratory studies show that the acids bound to ash surfaces from the 2003 volcanic dome collapse event of the Soufrière Hills volcano could have caused the upper 5 m of the water column to become undersaturated with respect to aragonite. When combined with the large fluxes of acidic aerosols (principally as SO2) from the volcano during eruptions, it is proposed that volcanogenic ocean acidification by marine ash falls is a significant contributing factor to these observed mass mortality events.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 13 March 2011
Published date: 15 April 2011
Keywords: pteropod, soufrière hills volcano, montserrat, ocean acidification, ash-leachates, explosive volcanism

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 187391
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/187391
ISSN: 0025-3227
PURE UUID: 58fbf4fd-f619-4711-bcf5-80a884a0a557

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Date deposited: 16 May 2011 16:03
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 03:25

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Contributors

Author: Deborah Wall-Palmer
Author: Morgan T. Jones
Author: Malcolm B. Hart
Author: Jodie K. Fisher
Author: Christopher W. Smart
Author: Deborah J. Hembury
Author: Gary R. Fones

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