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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Transport of Surface-modified Carbon Nanotubes through a Soil Column
Published on: April 2, 2015
Giant larvacean houses: rapid carbon transport to the deep sea floor
Bruce H Robison1, Kim R Reisenbichler, Rob E Sherlock
1Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA. robr@mbari.org
Abstract:
An unresolved issue in ocean science is the discrepancy between the food requirements of the animals living on the deep sea floor and their food supply, as measured by sediment traps. A 10-year time-series study of the water column off Monterey Bay, California, revealed that the discarded mucus feeding structures of giant larvaceans carry a substantial portion of the upper ocean's productivity to the deep seabed. These abundant, rapidly sinking, carbon-rich vectors are not detected by conventional sampling methods and thus have not been included in calculations of vertical nutrient flux or in oceanic carbon budgets.
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