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Science 25 August 1978:
Vol. 201. no. 4357, pp. 735 - 736
DOI: 10.1126/science.201.4357.735
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Articles

Decomposition of Calcium Carbonate and Organic Carbon in the Deep Oceans

CHEN-TUNG A. CHEN 1

1 School of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331

Simple mass-balance calculations indicate that in seawater the calcium variation (DgrCa) correlates with the variation in the titration alkalinity (DgrTA) and the variation in the total carbon dioxide (DgrsgrCO2) or nitrate (DgrNO3) according to the equations DgrCa = 0.46288 DgrTA + 0.074236 DgrsgrCO2 and DgrCa = 0.5 DgrTA + 0.53125 DgrNO3. The estimated values for DgrCa from these equations, which agree with the values obtained from direct measurements, have been used to estimate the ratio of the in situ inorganic to organic carbon fluxes in the oceans. The precise vertical distribution of this ratio is shown for the first time.

Submitted on January 23, 1978
Revised on April 17, 1978

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)