Lysocline, calcium carbonate compensation depth, and calcareous sediments in the North Pacific Ocean

An extensive oceanographic investigation has been carried out in the North Pacific Ocean. This report presents the results of two cruises and reports additional carbonate data from samples collected in the North Pacific. These data are combined with data from the literature to provide an overall picture of the carbonate system in the North Pacific. The degree of saturation of seawater with respect to calcite and aragonite was calculated from all available data sets. Four selected sections, three longitudinal and one latitudinal, and two three-dimensional graphs show that a large volume of the North Pacific is undersaturated with respect to CaCO sub(3).