Abstract
In 2021 oil spill leakage residue and dumped garbage from unknown sources were carried by sea currents and invaded the only oceanic mangrove on an island in the South Atlantic. This tropical biodiverse pristine region of the Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (PE, Brazil) was acutely affected and suffered chronic impacts that include chemical contamination and economic consequences from this environmental disaster. Here we will show how oil spills and dumped garbage affect the calcareous microorganisms and the ecological chain due to acidification, a known result of low-oxygen environments due to the physical and chemical perturbations of the water and sediment. The diverse biological community of microfossils living in the sediment-water interface tracks the entire marine environment preserved through time. Changes in ocean chemistry can have broad direct and indirect effects on marine organisms and the ecosystems in which they live. Studies indicate that most marine calcifiers (corals, foraminifera, crustaceans, and mollusks) exhibit reduced calcification through increasing ocean acidification. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in coral reefs and the shells of other marine calcifiers comes in two different mineral forms: calcite and aragonite. Seawater on the ocean surface near the tropics is supersaturated with the ions needed to form these carbonate minerals. Ocean acidification reduces carbonate ion saturation, making it more difficult for marine organisms to produce the CaCO3 needed to form their shells and structures. This 2021 disaster occurred during the Brazilian government’s extensive environmental mismanagement, and it is of urgent necessity to spotlight this tragedy affecting this unique and sensitive habitat showing the ongoing damaging effects that include biological-socio-economic losses not yet sufficiently addressed. Interrelated communities may continue to absorb these deleterious impacts for decades without consideration or compensation.