BN52A:
A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Biological Carbon Pump: Understanding Its Efficiency and Predicting Its Future III


Session ID#: 37067

Session Description:
The biological carbon pump (BCP) transports organic carbon away from the atmosphere to the deep-ocean and sediments, influencing atmospheric CO2levels. The efficiency of the BCP — ratio between fluxes to the deep ocean and primary productivity in the surface ocean — has been intensely studied for the past four decades. Multiple mechanisms contribute to the flux of organic matter to the ocean interior. Recently it has become increasingly clear that complex ecosystem interactions such as phytoplankton community composition and heterotrophic food webs, rather than primary production alone, influence the ability of the oceans to sequester organic carbon. Yet, the mechanisms controlling both the magnitude of carbon export and its fate in the ocean mesopelagic zone are not well understood and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to improve our understanding of these processes. We encourage submissions of field, experimental and modelling studies focusing on:

  • Innovative techniques and models to quantify BCP efficiency
  • Ecosystem processes (e.g. bloom phenology, plankton physiology, particle properties, controls on particle sinking rate and remineralisation)
  • Reconciliation of the discrepancy between POC sinking out of the surface ocean and carbon demand in the dark ocean.
  • Budget calculations and models that predict future BCP in a changing climate
Primary Chair:  Maria Villa-Alfageme, Universidad de Sevilla, Applied Physics II, Sevilla, Spain
Co-chairs:  Anna Belcher, NERC British Antarctic Survey, OBE, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Raffaele Bernardello, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Barcelona, Spain and Matthieu Bressac, University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), Hobart, TAS, Australia; Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, Institut de la Mer de Villefranche, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
Moderators:  Maria Villa-Alfageme, Universidad de Sevilla, Applied Physics II, Sevilla, Spain, Raffaele Bernardello, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Barcelona, Spain and Matthieu Bressac, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, Institut de la Mer de Villefranche, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
Student Paper Review Liaisons:  Maria Villa-Alfageme, Universidad de Sevilla, Applied Physics II, Sevilla, Spain and Raffaele Bernardello, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Barcelona, Spain
Index Terms:

1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling [GLOBAL CHANGE]
4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4806 Carbon cycling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
4815 Ecosystems, structure, dynamics, and modeling [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL]
Cross-Topics:
  • CT - Chemical Tracers, Organic Matter and Trace Elements
  • IS - Ocean Observatories, Instrumentation and Sensing Technologies
  • OM - Ocean Modeling

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Amanda Kahn, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, Laura Castro de la Guardia, University of Alberta, Centre for Earth Observation Science, Edmonton, AB, Canada, Mariona Claret, University of Washington, Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, Seattle, WA, United States, Xianmin Hu, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, NS, Canada and Paul Glen Myers, University of Alberta, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Wolfgang Koeve1, Angela Landolfi2, Paul Kähler1 and Andreas Oschlies1, (1)GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany, (2)Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Scienze Ambientali (CNR - ISMAR), Roma, Italy
Thomas S Weber, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States, Timothy J DeVries, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, United States and Saeed Roshan, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
Dr. Anna Rufas Blanco, PhD1, Tinna Jokulsdottir2 and Samar Khatiwala1, (1)University of Oxford, Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford, United Kingdom, (2)University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
Emmanuel Christian Laurenceau-Cornec, University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Ecology and Biodiversity, Hobart, TAS, Australia, Mathieu Mongin, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Hobart, Hobart, TAS, Australia, Philip W Boyd, University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Antarctic Climate Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart, Australia and Thomas W. Trull, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Marine and Atmospheric Research, Antarctic Climate Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Hobart, TAS, Australia
Elena Ceballos-Romero1, Feliciano C de Soto2, Frederic A.C. Le Moigne3, Rafael García-Tenorio1 and Maria Villa-Alfageme1, (1)Universidad de Sevilla, Applied Physics II, Sevilla, Spain, (2)Universidad Pablo Olavide, Physical, Chemical and Natural Systems, Seville, Spain, (3)Aix Marseille Univ., Université Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO UM 110, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography, Marseille, France, Marseille, France
Sari Lou Carolin Giering, National Oceanography Center, Southampton, Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems, Southampton, United Kingdom, Richard Sanders, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, Adrian Martin, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, Stephanie Henson, National Oceanography Center, Southampton, United Kingdom, Jennifer S Riley, Lloyd’s Register Marine & Offshore, Ship Recycling Section, Southampton, United Kingdom, Christopher M Marsay, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, Savannah, GA, United States and David Johns, The Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2PB, UK, Plymouth, United Kingdom