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Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) can be contrasted with dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), the other form of inorganic carbon found in the ocean. These distinctions are important in chemical oceanography. Particulate inorganic carbon is sometimes called suspended inorganic carbon. In operational terms, it is defined as the inorganic carbon in particulate form that is too large to pass through the filter used to separate dissolved inorganic carbon.
Most PIC is calcium carbonate, CaCO3, particularly in the form of calcite, but also in the form of aragonite. Calcium carbonate makes up the shells of many marine organisms. It also forms during whiting events and is excreted by marine fish during osmoregulation.
- ^ Particulate Inorganic Carbon (PIC) Ocean Biology Processing Group, NASA. Accessed 24 October 2020.
- ^ Balch, W. M.; Gordon, Howard R.; Bowler, B. C.; Drapeau, D. T.; Booth, E. S. (2005). "Calcium carbonate measurements in the surface global ocean based on Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data". Journal of Geophysical Research. 110 (C7): C07001. Bibcode:2005JGRC..110.7001B. doi:10.1029/2004jc002560.
- ^ Gordon, Howard R.; Boynton, G. Chris; Balch, William M.; Groom, Stephen B.; Harbour, Derek S.; Smyth, Tim J. (2001). "Retrieval of coccolithophore calcite concentration from SeaWiFS Imagery". Geophysical Research Letters. 28 (8): 1587–1590. Bibcode:2001GeoRL..28.1587G. doi:10.1029/2000gl012025. S2CID 129177844.