The storage of carbon dioxide by the ocean is a relatively long-term storage.
Because the migration speed of carbon dioxide at the sea-air interface is fast, especially when strong winds cause the transport of breaking waves and air bubbles into the mixed layer. The solubility of carbon dioxide in sea water is greater than that in fresh water. The higher pH value of seawater (approximately equal to 8) will cause the following balanced equation to react from left to right: ?
CO2 + H2O. =H2CO3 (carbonic acid)?
H2CO3=H+ + HCO3- (bicarbonate ion)
HCO3- =H+ + CO32- (carbonate ion)?
In seawater, only 1% of carbon dioxide remains in the form of carbon dioxide molecules, and more than 90% of carbon dioxide is in the form of bicarbonate ions. These ions, along with carbonic acid and carbonate ions, are collectively called dissolved inorganic carbon.
Storage of the dcarbon dioxide from the ocean is therefore a relatively long-term storage.
The method of storing carbon dioxide by the ocean:
The first, the “dissolution pump”?
Carbon dioxide dissolves more easily in low temperature and high temperature environments. -High-density seawater in high-latitude sea areas, these high-density seawater will sink to the bottom of the sea. This results in a phenomenon of "thermohaline circulation" in seawater, whereby the Cold, deep seawater (containing carbon dioxide) in the North Atlantic "flows" south through Antarctica, eventually returning to the equatorial Indian and Pacific Oceans to become water surface sea. There, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere again. Similarly, deep Antarctic waters circulate around Antarctica before returning to the surface. The time interval inThe sinking of high-density seawater at high latitudes and its reappearance in the tropics is estimated to take 1,000 years.
The second type, the "biological pump"?
Ocean plants (mainly phytoplankton) absorb carbon dioxide dissolved in surface seawater and maintain life through photosynthesis. Phytoplankton growth and reproduction rates often depend on nutrient availability. The size of phytoplankton is only 1 to 5 millimeters, and marine zooplankton can usually quickly eat these phytoplankton, which in turn will be preyed upon by larger marine animals, such as fish. More than 70% of this organic matter in surface seawater can be recycled, but the balance of deep seawater occurs primarily through the precipitation of particulate organic matter. Therefore, this biological pump transports carbon dioxide from the efrom surface sea to deep seawater and effectively stores carbon dioxide in local deep seawater areas. Much of this organic matter is remineralized by bacteria to release carbon dioxide, which is ultimately returned to surface seawater. It takes 1,000 years to store carbon dioxide in deep sea waters until it reappears in surface waters.