The Acidification Moorings sub-facility is responsible for building an ocean carbon and acidification monitoring network for Australian waters. These moorings provide key observations to help us understand and address the problem of increasing ocean acidification.
Each mooring is equipped with surface CO2 systems, using proven and robust technology. Three sensors will determine surface CO2, temperature and salinity. The hydrochemistry sampling at the National Reference Stations will also provide total alkalinity data, as will future pH sensors on the moorings, allowing for a complete determination of the carbonate system and pH.
Acidification moorings are co-located at three National Reference Stations:
A fourth acidification mooring is located adjacent to the Heron Island reef slope in the Wistari channel on the Great Barrier Reef (instrumentation: Battele Seaology pCO2 monitor, Aanderaa Oxygen Optode and Sea-bird Electronics, model SBE16plus V2 SEACAT).
The Yongala, Wistari and Maria Island acidification moorings are located to characterise changes down the east coast of Australia and the influence of the East Australian Current on CO2 uptake and acidification from the Great Barrier Reef to the Southern Ocean. The Kangaroo Island mooring monitors the deeper waters upwelled on the South Australian shelf which are expected to have higher CO2 and thus could accelerate the exposure of ecosystems to acidification earlier than in other regions.