Shells Dissolve in Acidifed Ocean Water

Figure 1.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Nina Bednarsek

This figure appears in chapter 1 of the Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment report.

Pteropods, or “sea butterflies,” are eaten by a variety of marine species ranging from tiny krill to salmon to whales. The photos show what happens to a pteropod’s shell in seawater that is too acidic. On the left is a shell from a live pteropod from a region in the Southern Ocean where acidity is not too high. The shell on the right is from a pteropod in a region where the water is more acidic. (Figure source: (left) Bednaršek et al. 2012f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33 (right) Nina Bednaršek).

When citing this figure, please reference (left) Bednaršek et al. 2012;f5ea3c8e-a727-47a1-981c-4db49a0b6d33 (right) Nina Bednaršek.

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Other figures containing images in this figure : 34.21: Ocean Acidification and the Food Web, 2.31: Shells Dissolve in Acidified Ocean Water

This figure was derived from Extensive dissolution of live pteropods in the Southern Ocean .

References :

• Extensive dissolution of live pteropods in the Southern Ocean (f5ea3c8e)

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