Biological Buffering of Oceanic Silica

Abstract

CALCULATION of a silica budget for the oceans provides useful quantitative information about the factors controlling the concentration of oceanic silica. The geochemical cycle of silica involves its release to continental waters during terrestrial weathering and subsequent introduction into the oceans, the release of silica directly to ocean water during submarine weathering, and its utilization in the biochemical cycles of marine plants and animals. Some organically bound silica is removed from the oceanic reservoir through deposition in the sediment, and some is regenerated in the water column and at the interface between water and sediment. In a study of possible variations in the concentration of dissolved silica during the evolution of the oceans, silica budget calculations were made for the modern ocean.