SANDERS , Richard

The biological carbon pump (BCP) transfers carbon from the surface ocean into the oceans'interior,mainly in the form of sinking particles with an organic component, and thereby keeps atmospheric CO2atsignificantly lower levels than if the oceans were abiotic. The depth at which these sinking particles areremineralized is a key control over...

Particle sinking velocity is considered to bea controlling factor for carbon transport to the deep sea and thus carbon sequestration in the oceans. The velocities of the material exported to depth are considered to be high in high-latitude productive systems and low in oligotrophic distributions. We use a recently developed method based on the...

The biological carbon pump, driven principally by the surface production of sinking organic matter and its subsequent remineralization to carbon dioxide (CO2) in the deep ocean, maintains atmospheric CO2 concentrations around 200 ppm lower than they would be if the ocean were abiotic. One important driver of the magnitude of this effect is the...