Materials science researchers at UC San Diego, University of Alabama, and Colorado State University are working together to solve a vexing materials-for-extreme-environments challenge.
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As ocean waters increasingly acidify due to absorbing carbon dioxide, tracking impacts on specific species has been difficult to gauge over time. Most of what is known about species responses to acidifying waters comes from short-term experiments that suggest increases in ocean acidity causing a lowering of seawater pH and less availability of carbonate ions to make shells can lead to less fortified shells and more vulnerable animals. But not every species from the studies responds the same way, with some even appearing to do better under those conditions.
Comparing new data with samples collected in the 1950s, UCSD s Division of Biological Sciences graduate student Elizabeth Bullard and Professor Kaustuv Roy found that ocean acidification is transforming the composition of California mussel shells from mostly the mineral aragonite to the mineral calcite. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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The large mollusk known as the California mussel makes its home in the rocky shoreline from Mexico to Alaska. (Shutterstock / Danita Delimont)
SAN DIEGO, CA UC San Diego scientists reported Monday that increased ocean acidity is weakening California mussel shells along the Pacific Coast, a result of rising levels of human-produced carbon dioxide.
The large mollusk known as the California mussel makes its home in the rocky shoreline from Mexico to Alaska. It is considered a foundational animal, as it provides homes for hundreds of other species and offers a rich food source for species ranging from spiny lobsters to humans.