Apparent Dissociation Constants of Carbon Dioxide in Sea-water of Different Salt Contents

Abstract

IN addition to neutral salts, sea-water contains a small quantity of ‘excess base’ in the form of bicarbonate and of carbonate, together with free carbonic acid. The ratio of HCO₃′ to CO₃″, free CO₂, and consequently hydrogen ion concentration, varies with time and place, dependent upon the intensity of assimilation by plants, of respiration by animals and plants, exchange with the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere, production of calcium carbonate in the skeletons of coccolithophores and animals, and its solution from calcareous sediments. Further, the interrelation between carbon dioxide tension, hydrogen ion concentration, and excess base in saline physiological fluids has been the subject of much research, concerning which there is a considerable and growing literature.