From Australian Oceans Data Network
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Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Implications for phytoplankton community dynamics and silicate dissolution

Created 11/01/2026

Updated 11/01/2026

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Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is an emerging carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that leverages the natural processes of weathering and acid neutralisation to durably store atmospheric CO2 in seawater. OAE can be achieved with a variety of methods, all of which have different environmental implications. One widely considered method utilizes electrochemistry to remove strong acid from seawater, leaving sodium hydroxide (NaOH) behind. This study evaluates the impacts of OAE via NaOH (NaOH-OAE) on a coastal plankton bloom, with particular focus on how macronutrient regeneration in the aftermath of the bloom responds to the perturbation. To investigate this, we enclosed a natural coastal phytoplankton community, including coccolithophores, in nine microcosms. The microcosms were divided into three groups: control, unequilibrated (512.1 ± 2.5 µmol kg-1 alkalinity increase) and equilibrated (499.3 ±5.65 µmol kg-1 alkalinity increase). Light was provided for 11 days to stimulate a bloom (light phase) and lights were turned off thereafter to investigate alkalinity and nutrient changes for 21 days (dark phase). We found no detectable effect of equilibrated NaOH-OAE on phytoplankton community and bacteria abundances determined with flow cytometry but observed a small yet detectable restructuring of phytoplankton communities under unequilibrated conditions. NaOH-OAE had no significant effect on alkalinity, NOx- and phosphate regeneration, but increased silicate regeneration by 64% over 21 days under darkness in the unequilibrated treatments where seawater pH was highest (8.65 relative to 7.92 in the control). Additional dissolution experiments with two diatom species supported this outcome on silicate regeneration for one of the two species, thereby suggesting that the effect is species specific. Our results point towards the potential of NaOH-OAE to influence regeneration of silicate in the surface ocean and thus the growth of diatoms, at least under the very extreme NaOH-OAE conditions simulated here.

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Field Value
Title Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Implications for phytoplankton community dynamics and silicate dissolution
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/01c2af35-10af-4612-a9c8-c83ba838e75c
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
anita.butterley@utas.edu.au
Reference Period 28/04/2023 - 04/09/2023
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement: Implications for phytoplankton community dynamics and silicate dissolution". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/ocean-alkalinity-enhancement-implications-for-phytoplankton-community-dynamics-and-silicate-dis1