describe how sea-water can be a sink for carbon dioxide.?

Question

does the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere fully dissolve in the ocean or is some taken in by plants.

Answer 1

Lots of little critters in the oceaqn use dissolved carbon dioxide in the water to form the calcium carbonate that makes up their exoskeletons and shells. Lots of little critters absorbing CO2 means that lots of CO2 will dissolve in the oceans, otherwise known as a sink.

QED.

Answer 2

It's actually more insidious than that. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is actually in a complex equilibrium with CO2(aq) and H2CO3(aq) in the ocean. The latter molecule is actually an addition product of water and carbon dioxide called carbonic acid.

Some carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants and used in photosynthesis. Some is used by microscopic and macroscopic plants in the water. The rest (and there seems to be more and more since the industrial revolution) will push the equilibrium and leave more dissolved CO2 and H2CO3 in the oceans/seas/lakes/etc. That increase in the concentration of dissolved acid will make the oceans more acidic.

This is actually bad for those little critters who use CaCO3 to make their shells. Why? In basic solution (and the oceans are still slightly basic) CaCO3 is pretty insoluble, but as the oceans get more acidic the CaCO3 and the shells made from it start to dissolve.

for more info you can start here:
http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/document.asp?id=3249

Answer 3

Carbon dioxide is a heavy gas. It will sink to the surface of the earth or oceans.
On the earth it is absorbed by plants and undergoes photosynthesis.

On the ocean surface CO2 is a hygroscopic gas - it dissolves in water- and dissolves into the sea water. It is thought to be removed from sea-water by live coral. Dead coral has been found to be largely Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). So this product of CO2 absorption into the sea.

Answer 4

the oxygen particles have a weird alignment of electrons so they act like a magnet (on a very small scale).
both H2O and CO2 have oxygen and this can attract each other.
This bond is very very weak so the water only absorbs a small amount of CO2 per litre. but because the oceans are very Large there is a lot of "dissolved" CO2 in total
This then is used by marine life (algae being the main organism) in total it is this algae that absorbs about 90% of the worlds CO2 and breaks it down to Oxygen O2.

Someone will pick holes in this but it is generally how it works

Answer 5

CO2 dissolves in water to form mild acid.Some is released to help water plant growth.Excess CO2 in atmosphere is caused when potehtial for sea water to absorb CO2 js exceeded.