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	(We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation.)

Dear Colleagues:

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) program is soliciting your input toward a workshop to promote collaborative research on Ocean Acidification.The OCB has identified Ocean Acidification as one of several Research Priorities, and would like to kick-start community involvement in planning at a workshop to be held October 9-11, 2007 at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. The deadline to apply is September 5, 2007.

MOTIVATION: The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers to discuss potential ocean acidification research projects that support the OCB mission.We specifically want to move toward specific implementation strategies to address the many research gaps and unknowns about ocean acidification that have been identified in previous workshops. A list of such unknowns is included at the end of this page.

LOGISTICS AND TIMING: Drs. Victoria Fabry and Chris Langdon have volunteered to organize the workshop and will solicit additional participation from the community. OCB will provide funding for the workshop; funding for participant travel costs is contingent on the number of participants. We anticipate that up to five research topics will be highlighted for in-depth discussion at the workshop.These will be selected from your recommendations.

WORKSHOP PRODUCTS: A formal report on the workshop findings, based on participant input, will be written and posted on the OCB website shortly after the workshop.

This is your opportunity to explore collaborative research ideas on ocean acidification. We hope that this will provide many of you with information and guidance you need to develop coherent and exciting research proposals under the OCB.

Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry  http://www.us-ocb.org/

Examples of discussion topics for this meeting (there are, of course, many more such projects, and we will consider all of your recommendations):

1) Effects of acidification on the calcium carbonate pump, including production, dissolution and ballasting.

2) Linkages between benthic calcification and water column biogeochemistry.

3) Effects of ocean acidification on nutrient and trace element availability.

4) Biocalcification mechanisms in coral, plankton, etc., as they relate to seawater biogeochemistry.

5) Improvements in carbonate system monitoring (key areas, standardization of measurements and techniques, coordination with other observation systems, technological developments, etc.).

6) Physiological and calcification studies to better our understanding of the various mechanisms of calcification and the photosynthesis/calcification relationship in autotrophs and in heterotrophs with photosynthetic symbionts.

7) Improvements in understanding both the physiological and calcification responses of organisms and communities to ocean acidification at multiple scales (organism, community, ecosystem), and in concert with other factors (e.g. light, nutrients), and the feedbacks to ocean biogeochemistry.

8) Laboratory and field studies designed to determine the capacity of organisms to adapt to ocean acidification.

9) Changes in benthic calcification rates and the associated impacts on coastal zone sources and sinks of atmospheric CO₂.