The alkaline reaction of sea water and the chemical equilibria that define it concern not only the oceanographer but also the geologist and the biologist. For information upon this subject must lead to further knowledge regarding geographical variations in the composition of the sea, the chemical reactions which have taken place during the existence of the ocean, the present movements of carbonic acid upon the earth, and the environmental relations of sea water to marine flora and fauna. In the present investigation it has been sought, first, to determine the influence of carbon dioxide tension and of salinity upon the hydrogen ion concentration of sea water and, secondly, to construct a solution of exactly known composition, which shall reproduce the behavior of sea water when subjected to changes in carbonic acid concentration. This task has been accomplished with such accuracy as existing methods of investigation afford. The results define the acid-base relation between marine organisms and their environment, the fluctuations in this relationship, and the means by which such fluctuations are controlled. They also yield evidence concerning the geological history of the ocean. When combined with the observations of Palitzsch, they lead to a general description of the geographical variation in the chemical equilibria of.sea water and to information concerning the gradients along which carbon dioxide is at present moving in the sea and in the air.
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Henderson et al. (1916) studied this question.