On the variation in calcium content of the waters of Laccadives (Arabian Sea)

Abstract

The concentration of calcium was determined in the samples collected from four stations in the Laccadive Sea and from two lagoons of Kavaratti and Minicoy atolls. The calcium/chlorinity ratio for the open ocean samples was found to be 0.02168 ± 0.000015 with an average calcium concentration of 424.9 mg kg^-1. A maximum in this ratio was observed at about 200 m depth, below the salinity maximum corresponding to Arabian Sea Surface Water mass. No increase in calcium concentration or in calcium/chlorinity ratio was observed down to 1500 m depth, thereby ruling out the possibility of any calcium carbonate dissolution at these depths. Samples from Kavaratti and Minicoy lagoons gave much lower values of the Ca/Cl ratio (0.02145 ± 0.000036 and 0.02142 ± 0.000046, respectively). These low values are apparently the result of calcium utilization by the coral reefs. Using the reduction in the calcium concentration inside the lagoon, in the absence of any chemical precipitation, the annual CaCO₃ production by reef flat and lagoon on Kavaratti Atoll has been estimated as 1 .10⁷ kg. This gives an average gross production of 1.4 kg CaCO₃ per m² per yr.