ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Aragonite sea

Okay, so imagine that the ocean is like a giant swimming pool. Aragonite is a special type of mineral that can form in the water of the swimming pool, just like how a crystal might form in your glass of water when you leave it out for a while.

When the water in the swimming pool has a lot of aragonite in it, we call it an "aragonite sea." This means that there are a lot of these special minerals floating around in the water, kind of like how there might be a lot of leaves in your pool if it's the fall season.

The cool thing about aragonite is that it can be really important for animals that live in the ocean. Some sea creatures, like corals and shellfish, use the aragonite to build their homes (just like how we might use bricks to build a house). So if there's lots of aragonite in the water, these animals can grow bigger and stronger.

But sometimes, the aragonite sea can start to disappear. This can happen if there's too much carbon dioxide in the air (which often happens because of things like factories and cars). When the carbon dioxide enters the water, it can make the aragonite dissolve, kind of like how salt might dissolve in your glass of water if you add too much.

So basically, an aragonite sea is when there's lots of a special mineral in the ocean that some sea creatures need to survive. But sometimes, things like pollution can make that mineral disappear and that can be bad for those sea creatures.