When I was doing research for Isis her article about the Beaufort sea, I came across a link that had some very interesting information !!

BHD you gonna like this !!!


1.1.3 Polar Processes and Global Biogeochemical
Silica Transformation in the Arctic
[link to www.ipy2012montreal.ca]

E.L. Vinogradova, P. Stunzhas
1P.P. Shirsov Institute of Oceanology, RAS, Moscow, Russia

Features of input and transformations of dissolved silica in the Arctic are considered. Silica recycling due to destruction of organic matter differs from recycling of other main nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) because it indirectly tied by bacteria activity while principal depends on physicochemical processes of dissolution. We traced on features of silica transformations in Arctic Seas by comparison their chemogeographical conditions such as levels of oxygen utilisation and release of phosphates, depth and circulation. Recycling of silica in stagnation regions of the Novaya Zemlya Trench in the Kara Sea and in deep trenches in the White Sea is higher than one's recycling in the Barents Sea in spite of more active biological productivity in the Barents Sea. The highest release of silica takes place over the shelf brake in the Beaufort Sea and in the Chukchi Sea. In general, the silica recycling in the Arctic is in proportion to oxygen utilization and release of phosphates in the depth range 100-150 m. Content of frustules in Arctic sediments completely conform to this conclusion that permit to conclude about closed silica balance. Especial attention was paid to recycling and transfer of silica by main Siberia Rivers such as Yenisei, Ob' and Lena.



SILICA & ARAGONITE

Now a small side step :
Remember the post of the possible jellyfish-like creatures on Saturns moon Titan ? It was written that some scientists considered it possible that besides 'carbon based-lifeforms', there were also for-example 'silica based-lifeforms' ... ( [link to www.huffingtonpost.co.uk] )
It was around the same time that I was doing research about ARAGONITE.
Now back then I checked silica and aragonite on google, but now again and 1 hit I saw is imo spactacular !

Look at those words !!!
- inorganic
- self organised !
- biomorphic !!!!

(The image in the link is stunning !)

Inorganic Self-Organized Silica Aragonite Biomorphic Composites
[link to pubs.acs.org]

The precipitation of calcium carbonate in alkaline silica solutions results in the formation of complex curvilinear forms if aragonite formation is encouraged by growth at an elevated temperature (80 °C). The resulting coralline self-assembled silica−calcium carbonate particles are “biomorphs”, bearing a striking resemblance to natural coral forms. These materials, comprised of calcium carbonate nanocrystals and an amorphous silica matrix, have a complex ultrastructure, made of clusters of gathered sheets of variable curvatures formed by successive curling. The nanocrystals within these “ruled surfaces” are thin, elongated, densely packed needles of aragonite. These clusters are outgrowths from central saddlelike cores that resemble developable petaloid surfaces.

I know this is not telling anything about the Kara Sea case,
but those signaturewords !!!
Sorry I had to post this ..lol...


Now whats an important detail of aragonite over silica ?
A clue did I find on a forum about fishtanks/aquariums :

I had silica sand in a 20g long at my office, and had recurring diatom blooms. Since then, I have covered the silica with about 2" of aragonite, and have not had an algae bloom since.
Silica sand is simply ground up glass. Argonite is ground up limestone.
Usually aragonite sand is more flat or round vs having odd shaped and possibly sharp edges like silica sand.

So Aragonite seems to be regulating ALGEA BLOOMS ! In my earlier post it come forth that Aragonite is important for the PH of water.


??? So is the RECYCLING and HIGH RELEASE of SILICA in the Kara Sea and Beaufort Sea related with ALGEA BLOOMS and the PH of its water ???
Remember that article of the algae-bloom off the cost of Antarctica ? (yes I know thats the opposite of the area's we are looking at, but it just stroke my mind ...lol..)

Aragonite :
[link to www.buzzle.com]
As it forms only at higher temperature, aragonite is less stable and less common form of calcium carbonate. Aragonite is sometimes found deposited in the beds of hot springs. It is also found in pearls and in some animal shells. As aragonite is found in small crystal form, it is easily distinguishable from calcite, the other natural rich source of calcium carbonate.
Aragonite is used, along with sand and soda ash, in making glass. Aragonite is used in agriculture as it is high in calcium carbonate and low in magnesium and this helps in conditioning the soil. As it is alkaline in nature, it helps to reduce the acidity in the soil.

Aragonite does NOT have magnetic properties,
and maybe THAT IS also a clue !

Wiki: [link to en.wikipedia.org] -unlike the other major nutrients such as phosphate, nitrate, or ammonium, which are needed by almost all marine plankton-, silicate is an essential chemical requirement for very specific biota, including diatoms (algae), radiolaria (amoeboid protozoa), silicoflagellates, and siliceous sponges. These organisms extract dissolved silicate from open ocean surface waters for the buildup of their particulate silica (SiO2), or opaline, skeletal structures. Once the organism has perished, part of the siliceous skeletal material dissolves, as it settles through the water column, enriching the deep waters with dissolved silica.
Diatoms (algae) account for 43% of the ocean primary production, and are responsible for the bulk of silica extraction from ocean waters in the modern ocean.the modern marine silica cycle is widely believed to be dominated by diatoms for the fixation and export of particulate matter (including organic carbon), from the euphotic zone to the deep ocean, via a process known as the biological pump. As a result, diatoms, and other silica-secreting organisms, play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, and have the ability to affect atmospheric CO2 concentrations on a variety of time scales, by sequestering CO2 in the ocean.

Diatoms in both fresh and salt water extract silica from the water to use as a component of their cell walls.
Silicon is in human connective tissues, bones, teeth, skin, eyes, glands and organs.

Siliceous deep-sea sediments located beneath the Antarctic Convergence (convergence zone) host some 25% of the silica supplied to the oceans and consequently form one of Earth’s major silica sinks. The highest biogenic silica accumulation rates in this area are observed in the South Atlantic. Further, extensive biogenic silica accumulation has been recorded in the deep-sea sediments of the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and Subarctic North Pacific.

And now there comes IRON !! (Algea & Iron => we immediately have to think about the algae-farm stories and the extra rich IRON-corexit !!!)

wiki: Southern Ocean sediments are a major sink for biogenic silica (50-75% of the oceanic total), but only a minor sink for organic carbon (<1%). These relatively high rates of biogenic silica accumulation in the Southern Ocean sediments (predominantly beneath the Polar Front) relative to organic carbon (60:1 on a weight basis) results from the preferential preservation of biogenic silica in the Antarctic water column. In contrast to what was previously thought, these high rates of biogenic silica accumulation are not the result from high rates of primary production. Biological production in the Southern Ocean is strongly limited due to the low levels of irradiance coupled with deep mixed layers and/or by limited amounts of micronutrients, such as iron.

So the biological production [of silica] in the Southern Ocean would no longer be strongly limited with an ADD of micronutrients like IRON !!!!


wiki: About, thirty-five percent of the biogenic silica produced in the euphotic zone [=zone exposed to sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to occur] survives dissolution within the surface layer; whereas only 4% of the organic carbon escapes microbial degradation in these near-surface waters. Consequently, considerable decoupling of organic C and silica occurs during settling through the water column. ... As a result polar sediments account for most of the ocean’s biogenic silica accumulation, but only a small amount of the sedimentary organic-carbon flux.

Is it so that if the composition of the watercolom changes, this could affect the rate of dissolution ?
Right now I have to think about the influence and importance of TEMPERATURE of the water, and the salinity-level ... [Squidsly, is this what you were once pointing at? BHD?]
We also learned that aragonite needs warmer temps to grow ... so could you say that with global "hotspots" growing (and slowing currents occuring, thus warming up) the balance between silica (algea/opal-glass) and aragonite growth is changing ?


Hmmm did this post made some thing more clear ?
Yes and no ...lol... pffffff ... my head is spinning !

Maybe you guys have also insights in this, what are your opinions and thoughts ?
Somehow this silica report of the Kara Sea and beaufort Sea is connected with aragonite, the slowing curents, iron, probably corexit, and much more ....


Diatoms are capable of synthesizing silica glass in vivo.
Silica is most commonly found in nature as sand or quartz, as well as in the cell walls of diatoms.
Silica is used primarily in the production of glass for windows, drinking glasses, etc. The majority of optical fibers for telecommunications are also made from silica. It is a primary raw material for many whiteware ceramics such as earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, as well as industrial Portland cement.
Thin films of silica grown on silicon wafers via thermal oxidation methods can be quite beneficial in microelectronics, where they act as electric insulators with high chemical stability.
A silica-based aerogel was used in the Stardust spacecraft to collect extraterrestrial particles. Silica is also used in the extraction of DNA and RNA due to its ability to bind to the nucleic acids under the presence of chaotropes (= which disrupt the structure of proteins and nucleic acids).

One can see/read that SILICA is a very important compound in our world and daily technology !


I have to ponder about this more I guess ... lol


xxxK