Articles | Volume 17, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4223-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4223-2020
Research article
 | 
26 Aug 2020
Research article |  | 26 Aug 2020

The impact of intertidal areas on the carbonate system of the southern North Sea

Fabian Schwichtenberg, Johannes Pätsch, Michael Ernst Böttcher, Helmuth Thomas, Vera Winde, and Kay-Christian Emeis

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2008/56/Ec: M. Commission of the European Communities Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008. Establishing a Framework for Community Action in the Field of Marine Environmental Policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive), Official Journal of the European Union L 164, 2008. 
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Short summary
Ocean acidification has a range of potentially harmful consequences for marine organisms. It is related to total alkalinity (TA) mainly produced in oxygen-poor situations like sediments in tidal flats. TA reduces the sensitivity of a water body to acidification. The decomposition of organic material and subsequent TA release in the tidal areas of the North Sea (Wadden Sea) is responsible for reduced acidification in the southern North Sea. This is shown with the results of an ecosystem model.
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