Factors controlling the rate of CaCO₃ precipitation on Great Bahama Bank

Measurements by Langdon et al. [2000] in the man‐made mesocosm coral reef at Biosphere 2's ocean reveal a strong dependence of calcification rate on the degree of supersaturation of CaCO 3 in seawater. A similar trend was previously encountered on the Bahama Banks, where Halimeda and other calcifiers are likely responsible for aragonite precipitation [ Broecker and Takahashi , 1966]. In this paper we compare these two sets of results and conclude that the dependence on saturation state is significant but less strong in the Bahamas. However, it must be kept in mind that to some extent, the reduction in CaCO 3 precipitation on the Bahama Banks may be due to impact of higher salinity on the growth of the calcifying algae. However, if, as many sedimentologists are convinced, the precipitation of CaCO 3 on the Bahama Banks is inorganic [ Macintyre and Reid , 1992; Milliman et al. , 1993], then the comparison of the Bahamas and Biosphere 2 results for dependence of calcification rate on saturation state is telling us something quite different.