Calcite Dissolution: An in situ Study in the Panama Basin.

The results of an in situ study of calcite dissolution in the Panama Basin indicate that the rate of dissolution in the water column increases suddenly below a water depth of about 2800 meters. This coincides with the depth at which the calcium carbonate content of surface sediments begins to decrease rapidly or the sedimentary lysocline. Since this level of increased dissolution both in the water column and on the sea floor does not appear to be related to the transition from supersaturation to undersaturation with respect to carbonate, there may be a kinetic origin for the lysocline in this region.