Sweet Marine Particles Resist Hungry Bacteria
Published:23 Feb.2021 Source:Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
A major pathway for carbon sequestration in the ocean is the growth, aggregation and sinking of phytoplankton -- unicellular microalgae like diatoms. Just like plants on land, phytoplankton sequester carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide.
When algae cells aggregate, they sink and take the sequestered carbon with them to the ocean floor. This so-called biological carbon pump accounts for about 70 per cent of the annual global carbon export to the deep ocean. Estimated 25 to 40 per cent of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning emitted by humans may have been transported by this process from the atmosphere to depths below 1000 meter, where carbon can be stored for millennia.