The rate of ocean acidification (OA) and other chemical changes in the polar oceans are more than double that of the global average. This accelerated OA is driven in part by changes in freshwater inputs, particularly from glacial and sea ice melt. The increased inputs of ice melt not only lower pH but lower total alkalinity, altering the buffering capacity of the seawater. The impacts vary between the Arctic and Antarctic due to differences in the pre-industrial seawater carbonate chemistry and non-linearities in the system. Currently the implications of glacial and sea ice melt for OA are poorly constrained, particularly around Antarctica. Here, with data collected on GEOTRACES GP17-ANT in 2023-24, we use the Amundsen Sea and the Dotson and Getz Ice shelfs as a case study for how these different sources of ice melt modify the chemistry of Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) and the impacts on air-sea gas exchange of carbon dioxide, OA, and carbon storage.
 

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