气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Quantifying the Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump

CCPortal

DOI	10.1029/2021GB007083
	Quantifying the Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump
	Nowicki, Michael; DeVries, Tim; Siegel, David A.
发表日期	2022
ISSN	0886-6236
EISSN	1944-9224
卷号	36 期号:3
英文摘要	The ocean's biological carbon pump transfers carbon from the surface ocean to the deep ocean by several distinct pathways, including gravitational settling of organic particles, mixing and advection of suspended organic carbon, and active transport by vertically migrating metazoans. Carbon exported by these pathways can be sequestered as respired CO2 in the deep ocean for years to centuries. However, the contribution of each pathway to carbon export and sequestration remains highly uncertain. Here, satellite and in situ ocean biogeochemical observations are assimilated in an ensemble numerical model of the biological pump to quantify global and regional carbon export and sequestration. The ensemble mean global carbon export is 10.2 Pg C yr(-1) and the total amount of carbon sequestered via the biological pump is 1,300 Pg C. The gravitational pump is responsible for 70% of the total global carbon export, 85% of which is zooplankton fecal pellets and 15% is sinking phytoplankton aggregates, while migrating zooplankton account for 10% of total export and physical mixing is responsible for the remaining 20%. These pathways have different sequestration times, with an average of 140 years for the gravitational pump, 150 years for the migrant pump, and only 50 years for the mixing pump. Regionally, the largest sequestration inventories and longest sequestration times are found in the northern high latitudes, while the shortest sequestration times are found in the subtropical gyres. These results suggest that ocean carbon storage will weaken as the oceans stratify and the subtropical gyres expand due to anthropogenic climate change. Plain Language Summary Tiny organisms called phytoplankton help to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels by absorbing large amounts of carbon in the surface ocean during photosynthesis. Various biological and physical processes, or pathways, then work together to transfer some of this carbon to the deep ocean where it can be stored for potentially hundreds of years. In this study, we examined these pathways using computer models that are consistent with data from satellite-based sensors and ocean observations. Our model shows that the most important pathways for carbon storage are transport by sinking particles and swimming zooplankton, while transport by ocean currents is the least important pathway. The North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans have the greatest carbon storage power, while the subtropical oceans have the least. These results imply that ocean carbon storage may decrease in the future, because subtropical regions will expand in a warming climate.
语种	英语
WOS研究方向	Environmental Sciences ; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary ; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
WOS类目	Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
WOS记录号	WOS:000776568900001
来源期刊	GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/281035
作者单位	University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Nowicki, Michael,DeVries, Tim,Siegel, David A.. Quantifying the Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump[J],2022,36(3).
APA	Nowicki, Michael,DeVries, Tim,&Siegel, David A..(2022).Quantifying the Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump.GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES,36(3).
MLA	Nowicki, Michael,et al."Quantifying the Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump".GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES 36.3(2022).