In the latest issue of Oceanus magazine, Moore Foundation grantees Benjamin Van Mooy, Kay Bidle and colleagues discuss their study of tiny plankton that help sequester carbon dioxide in the ocean.
This process, called the “biological pump,” could convert nearly every atom of carbon drawn into the ocean into organic carbon. However, "like hail stones that melt before reaching the ground, some carbon never makes it to the deep ocean, allowing CO2 to remain at shallow depths and leak back into atmosphere."
The team discovered a surprising short-circuit to the biological pump: sinking particles of stressed and dying phytoplankton release chemicals that help rapidly convert organic carbon in the particles back into CO2 before they can sink into the deep ocean.
Read the full article here.
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