Image: Multidisciplinary observations in the water column needed to understand the biological pump

Description: Multidisciplinary observations in the water column needed to understand the biological pump Information that can be derived from deep water Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs): Physics: stratification affects particle sinking; understanding the origin of the particles and the residence time of the DIC from particle remineralization in the deep ocean requires measurement of advection and mixing. Biogeochemistry: export/mixing down of particulate and dissolved organic matter from the surface layer determines labile organic matter arriving at the seafloor, which is either respired by seafloor biota or stored for longer times in the sediment. Biology and ecosystems: zooplankton and microorganisms break down and remineralize sinking particles in the water column. Exported organic matter feeds all water column and benthic biota (zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, microbes) sustaining their biomass, density, and biodiversity.
Author: Lisa A. Levin, Brian J. Bett, Andrew R. Gates, Patrick Heimbach, Bruce M. Howe, Felix Janssen, Andrea McCurdy, Henry A. Ruhl, Paul Snelgrove, Karen I. Stocks, David Bailey, Simone Baumann-Pickering, Chris Beaverson, Mark C. Benfield, David J. Booth, Marina Carreiro-Silva, Ana Colaço, Marie C. Eblé, Ashley M. Fowler, Kristina M. Gjerde, Daniel O. B. Jones, K. Katsumata, Deborah Kelley, Nadine Le Bris, Alan P. Leonardi, Franck Lejzerowicz, Peter I. Macreadie, Dianne McLean, Fred Meitz, Telmo Morato, Amanda Netburn, Jan Pawlowski, Craig R. Smith, Song Sun, Hiroshi Uchida, Michael F. Vardaro, R. Venkatesan and Robert A. Weller

Background image: U.S. DOE (2008) Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Report from the March 2008 Workshop, DOE/SC-108, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
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