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The new paper provides insight into the “biological pump”, where carbon, one of the most important factors in the Southern Ocean’s carbon cycle, is used by organisms on
The new paper provides insight into the “biological pump”, where carbon, one of the most important factors in the Southern Ocean’s carbon cycle, is used by organisms on the surface and transported to the depths of the ocean away from contact with the atmosphere. The study by scientists from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory and the University of Hawaii at Manoa has been published. PNAS.
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, plays a central role in reducing the rate of climate change by absorbing an estimated 40% of all man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and 60–90 Percentage of excess heat retained by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Understanding how the Southern Ocean absorbs CO2It is one of oceanography’s top priorities, but the remote, harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean are challenging scientists’ ability to accurately characterize how the carbon cycle is formed.
The research team was led by Yibin Huang and Andrea Fassbender of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Ecology Laboratory, in collaboration with Seth Buszynski, professor of oceanography at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology (SOEST). To measure for the first time the role played by tiny organisms called phytoplankton in absorbing CO, they analyzed data collected from more than 60 autonomous profiling boats over 10 years. 2 Southern Ocean forming various biogenic species from the atmosphere (caused by living organisms). organisms) carbon. Each biogenic carbon type has a different effect on carbon export and CO exchange. 2 between the atmosphere and the ocean.
Understanding how much carbon is captured on the ocean floor by the biological pump and how this affects the amount of CO2What is absorbed by the ocean is critical because changes in the rate at which biogenic carbon is stored in ocean waters can result in increased CO2.2 remains in the atmosphere and potentially affects the rate of climate change.
Monitoring three different types of carbon produced by biological activity simultaneously has been a longstanding challenge for oceanographers, said lead author Huang, a scientist at the Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences working at the Pacific Marine Ecology Laboratory. He said that because of the complexity of traditional methods, scientists generally see carbon production as a black box.
“Our work applies a newly developed method to cost-effectively predict the production and export of individual biogenic carbon pools and at ocean basin scales to monitor how marine ecosystems are functioning and responding to future climate change,” Huang said.
Because of the Southern Ocean’s unique circulation south of 35°S, the interaction of physical and biological processes shapes the regional biogeochemistry that influences the interior of the global ocean. The prevailing uplift south of the Antarctic Environmental Current brings deep waters rich in dissolved inorganic carbon into contact with the atmosphere. The deep waters are also rich in nutrients that fuel biological activity, which peaks in spring and summer. Phytoplankton consumes dissolved inorganic carbon, and some species use it to build their exoskeletons and carry it deep when they die.
As plankton thrive in this saturated, cold water, they cannot fully utilize the available nutrients and the dissolved inorganic carbon brought to the surface during ascent. Some of the dissolved inorganic carbon is released locally into the atmosphere. Unused nutrients are then transported towards the equator via large-scale circulation, providing most of the biological production in subtropics and tropics. The seasonal nature of the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean occurs when phytoplankton growth slows during the winter months when deep-sea mixing is most intense.
The article focuses on measuring the amount of dissolved inorganic carbon used by these tiny organisms and how the natural carbon export process affects the modern air-sea CO exchange. 2 .
The researchers found that organic carbon scavenger production accounts for about 3 billion tons of carbon per year, equivalent to about a quarter of total human emissions, while solid inorganic carbon production reduces CO absorption. 2 about 270 million tons per year. Differences in the amount of each type of carbon produced from north to south across the Southern Ocean affect how the biological pump affects local CO exchange. 2 air-sea
According to scientists, the Southern Ocean would be a source of CO2 if it weren’t for the carbon-depleting action of plankton during the southern hemisphere’s growing season. for atmosphere
Fassbender, who is also an adjunct professor at UC Santa, said the important role that phytoplankton plays in the Southern Ocean’s existing carbon sink suggests that understanding the annual variability of biogenic carbon production may be central to understanding the variability of the Southern Ocean’s total carbon sink. – Crus.
“Expanding continuous year-round observations from biogeochemical profiling vessels will be a cost-effective way to monitor the biological pump in the Southern Ocean and globally,” he said.
Source: Port Altele
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