[Coral-List] Why corals are doing calcification ?

[martin.pecheux at free.fr]

Dear Listers,

There was an email telling that coral calcification is due to hypoxia. No. I think the subject is more wide.

See martin-pecheux.fr, "The Gaia mechanism: biocalcification and carbon cycle", an old still good draft.
In short, all main marine biocalcifyers are tropical and photosynthetic: coccolithophorids, planktonic symbiotic foraminifera, corals, calcareous algae, large symbiotic foraminifera, Tridacna, and stromatholites since 3.5 billion years. This is because of photorespiration, enhanced in warm and oligotrophic waters, so they pump bicarbonate HCO3-. And it is energetically efficient to pump 2 HCO3- and do calcification, for charge balance, according to:
Ca++ + 2 HCO3- =˃ CO2 + H2O (for photosynthesis CH2O + O2) + CaCO3 (calcification).
as first undersood by Hassack in 1888.
This is the main Earth climate control, as when CO2 lowers, there is more HCO3- pumping so calcification, hence CO2 release, and inverserly (as we see today with mass bleaching). In details, it is a work of an entire life.

Cheers,

Dr Martin Pecheux
IPCC 2007 member (Nobel Peace Prize), 2014, soon IPBES
Institut des Foraminifères Symbiotiques
16, rue de la Fontaine de l'Espérance
92160 Antony, France
Email : martin.pecheux at free.fr
Web : martin-pecheux.fr
Phone : +33 (0)1 40 96 01 99

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