Major role of particle fragmentation in regulating biological sequestration of CO2 by the oceans

Type : ACL
Nature : Production scientifique
Au bénéfice du Laboratoire : Oui
Statut de publication : Publié
Année de publication : 2020
Auteurs (3) : BRIGGS Nathan DALL’OLMO Giorgio CLAUSTRE Herve
Revue scientifique : Science
Volume : 367
Fascicule : 6479
Pages :
DOI : 10.1126/science.aay1790
URL : http://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6479/791.abstract
Abstract : A critical driver of the ocean carbon cycle is the downward flux of sinking organic particles, which acts to lower the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. This downward flux is reduced by more than 70% in the mesopelagic zone (100 to 1000 meters of depth), but this loss cannot be fully accounted for by current measurements. For decades, it has been hypothesized that the missing loss could be explained by the fragmentation of large aggregates into small particles, although data to test this hypothesis have been lacking. In this work, using robotic observations, we quantified total mesopelagic fragmentation during 34 high-flux events across multiple ocean regions and found that fragmentation accounted for 49 ± 22% of the observed flux loss. Therefore, fragmentation may be the primary process controlling the sequestration of sinking organic carbon.
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Briggs N, Dall’Olmo G, Claustre H (2020) Major role of particle fragmentation in regulating biological sequestration of CO2 by the oceans. Science 367 | doi: 10.1126/science.aay1790