Biological carbon pump estimate based on multidecadal hydrographic data.

ABSTRACT: The transfer of photosynthetically produced organic carbon from surface to mesopelagic waters draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere¹. However, current observation-based estimates disagree on the strength of this biological carbon pump (BCP)². Earth system models (ESMs) also exhibit a large spread of BCP estimates, indicating limited representations of the known carbon export pathways³. Here we use several decades of hydrographic observations to produce a top-down estimate of the strength of the BCP with an inverse biogeochemical model that implicitly accounts for all known export pathways. Our estimate of total organic carbon (TOC) export at 73.4 m (model euphotic zone depth) is 15.00 ± 1.12 Pg C year^-1, with only two-thirds reaching 100 m dep

SUBMITTER: Wang WL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10733149 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature