Unlike nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2), which dissolve in seawater as simple, chemically inert dissolved gas molecules, dissolved CO2 undergoes chemical speciation upon entering seawater — reacting with water to form carbonic acid (H2CO3), which dissociates into bicarbonate (HCO3⁻) and carbonate (CO3²⁻) ions, establishing the ocean's carbonate buffering system.
When N2 and O2 dissolve in seawater, they remain as simple dissolved molecular gas species in physical (Henry's Law) equilibrium with the atmosphere, without undergoing...
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