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Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among living organisms, and one in which carbon is cycled over long periods of time through fossilized organic remains, weathering of rocks, and volcanic activity. Human activities, including increased agricultural practices and the burning of fossil fuels, has greatly affected the balance of the natural carbon cycle.

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Updated: Jul 9, 2025

Measuring Carbon-based Contaminant Mineralization Using Combined CO2 Flux and Radiocarbon Analyses

Measuring Carbon-based Contaminant Mineralization Using Combined CO2 Flux and Radiocarbon Analyses

Published on: October 21, 2016

Biological carbon pump estimate based on multidecadal hydrographic data.

Wei-Lei Wang¹, Weiwei Fu^2,3, Frédéric A C Le Moigne⁴

¹State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. weilei.wang@xmu.edu.cn.

|December 6, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The biological carbon pump (BCP) transfers atmospheric CO2 to the deep ocean, but estimates vary. This study uses observational data and an inverse model to estimate BCP strength, finding significant carbon export via sinking particles and zooplankton.

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Published on: June 24, 2019

Area of Science:

Biogeochemical oceanography
Climate science
Carbon cycle research

Background:

The biological carbon pump (BCP) is crucial for sequestering atmospheric CO2 in the deep ocean.
Current estimates of BCP strength are inconsistent, and Earth system models show large discrepancies.
Understanding all carbon export pathways is vital for accurate climate modeling.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide a top-down estimate of the biological carbon pump's strength using observational data.
To quantify organic carbon export pathways and their contribution to sequestration.
To investigate the impact of ocean warming on the BCP.

Main Methods:

Utilized several decades of hydrographic observations.
Employed an inverse biogeochemical model to implicitly account for all known carbon export pathways.
Partitioned organic carbon export by sequestration time (τ) below the euphotic zone.

Main Results:

Estimated total organic carbon (TOC) export at 73.4m to be 15.00 ± 1.12 Pg C year⁻¹.
Quantified globally integrated organic carbon production rates for τ > 3 months (11.09 ± 1.02 Pg C year⁻¹) and τ > 1 year (8.25 ± 0.30 Pg C year⁻¹).
Determined that 81% of long-term sequestration (τ > 1 year) is driven by non-advective-diffusive vertical flux (sinking particles and migrating zooplankton).

Conclusions:

The BCP's efficiency is sensitive to temperature, suggesting potential weakening under future global warming due to increased organic matter recycling.
While particle sinking and zooplankton migration dominate long-term carbon sequestration, mixing and fluid transport remain regionally significant.
Accurate representation of carbon export pathways is essential for improving climate model projections of the BCP.