Dissolved inorganic carbon

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) includes three major aqueous species, CO2, HCO−3 ,CO2−3, and to a lesser extent their complexes in solution with metal ions.

[7] Oceanographers seek to understand the metabolic state of the ocean, or the efficiency of the biological pump, by estimating the net community production (NCP) which is the gross primary productivity (GPP) minus the community respiration (sum of the respiration of the local autotrophs and heterotrophs).

Oceanographers and engineers continue to find novel and more accurate methods of measuring carbon content in seawater.

[15] Samples can be combined with stable isotope ratios 13C/12C, alkalinity measurements, and estimation of physical processes, to create diagnostic techniques.

[16] Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography developed a tool that uses flow injection analysis to measures microfluidic samples of seawater and continuously monitor dissolved inorganic carbon content.

Annual DOC and DIC fluxes in the Tanguro Ranch [ 1 ] watershed
Average annual flux of DOC and DIC in rainfall, throughfall, stemflow, overland flow, and stream flow. [ 2 ]
Spatial distribution of ocean surface DIC [ 11 ]
Spatial distributions of DIC and nDIC. (a) DIC (normalized to year 2005); (b) salinity-normalized DIC (nDIC, DIC normalized to reference year of 2005 and salinity of 35) in the surface global ocean. The latitudinal trends are clear, particularly for nDIC.