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Las colas ocultas de nieve marina impiden el secuestro de carbono en el océano

Rahul Chajwa¹, Eliott Flaum^1,2, Kay D Bidle³

¹Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|October 10, 2024

Resumen

El hundimiento de la nieve marina, crucial para el secuestro de carbono en los océanos, se ve frenado por "colas de cometas" desconocidas hasta ahora. Estas estructuras, formadas por halos de exopolímero, aumentan el tiempo de residencia de las partículas e impactan en la regulación del clima.

Área de la Ciencia:

La oceanografía
Biogeoquímica
Dinámica de fluidos

Sus antecedentes:

Los agregados de nieve marina son vitales para la bomba biológica de carbono del océano, que regula el clima.
La comprensión de la física de la sedimentación de la nieve marina está limitada por la complejidad agregada y la falta de observación directa.

Objetivo del estudio:

Investigar la microhidrodinámica y la física de la sedimentación de los agregados de nieve marina.
Para revelar nuevas características morfológicas y su impacto en la dinámica de hundimiento.

Principales métodos:

Utilizó microscopía de seguimiento vertical sin escala en un entorno de campo.
Se han realizado mediciones microhidrodinámicas en nieve marina recién recogida de trampas de sedimentos.

Principales resultados:

Descubrió una nueva morfología parecida a un cometa en los agregados de nieve marina debido a los halos de exopolímero.
Se observó que estas "colas de cometa" disminuyen significativamente la velocidad de hundimiento de las partículas.
Se ha demostrado que estas estructuras aumentan el tiempo de residencia de la nieve marina en la columna de agua.

Conclusiones:

El estudio revela interacciones de la estructura del fluido previamente desconocidas que rigen el hundimiento de la nieve marina.
Se desarrolló un modelo de orden reducido para la sedimentación Stokesiana de estas partículas.
Los hallazgos avanzan en la comprensión predictiva de la bomba biológica de carbono del océano y la regulación del clima.

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