Sea creatures
with calcium carbonate skeletons eventually die and some of mineral matter in their skeletons is buried in the sea bed.
According to Wiki, in marine invertebrates «The extinction primarily affected organisms
with calcium carbonate skeletons, especially those reliant on stable CO2 levels to produce their skeletons.
According to Wiki, in marine invertebrates «The extinction primarily affected organisms
with calcium carbonate skeletons, especially those reliant on stable CO2 levels to produce their skeletons.
Not exact matches
The sea star seems to survive because its
calcium is nodular, so unlike species
with continuous shells or
skeletons it can compensate for a lack of
carbonate by growing more fleshy tissue instead.
Most studies have concluded that sea animals
with calcified shells or
skeletons, such as starfish, will suffer as carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels dissolves in the sea, making the water more acidic and destroying the
calcium carbonate on which the creatures depend.
Excess carbon dioxide enters the ocean, reacts
with water, decreases ocean pH and lowers
carbonate ion concentrations, making waters more corrosive to marine species that need
carbonate ions and dissolved
calcium to build and maintain healthy shells and
skeletons.
But they conclude that marine organisms
with skeletons made of high - magnesium calcite may be especially susceptible to ocean acidification because this form of
calcium carbonate dissolves more easily than others.
As the oceans absorb increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, ocean acidification is expected to make life harder for many marine organisms, especially shellfish and other animals
with shells or
skeletons made of
calcium carbonate.
Coral reefs sprawl across the ocean floor like multicolored forests, most
with skeletons made of
calcium carbonate — similar to the shells of the sea butterflies.
This ocean acidification makes water more corrosive, reducing the capacity of marine organisms
with shells or
skeletons made of
calcium carbonate (such as corals, krill, oysters, clams, and crabs) to survive, grow, and reproduce, which in turn will affect the marine food chain.7
In a separate study, conducted at Australia's ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, researchers found that organisms that form
calcium carbonate skeletons have a mechanism to cope
with more acidic environments.