Project description
Helping close ocean carbon budgets
The Earth's carbon cycle can be regulated, and this is the job of the oceanic biological carbon pump (BCP). The biological pump transfers atmospheric CO2 (fixed by phytoplankton in the sun-lit upper ocean) as particulate organic carbon to the deep ocean floor. Scientists are exploring the physical transport of organic matter by vertical mixing or the active transport by zooplankton vertical migration as significant components of the BCP. Using year-round and depth-resolved observations from heavily instrumented biogeochemical Argo floats, the EU-funded CAPTURE project will develop a mechanistic and quantitative understanding of these BCP components. Focussing on the Southern Ocean, the project will combine physical oceanography, phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology and biogeochemistry. It will further our understanding of key climate-related processes and help close ocean carbon budgets.
Objective
The Biological Carbon Pump (BCP) transfers atmospheric CO2, fixed by phytoplankton in the sun-lit upper ocean, as particulate organic carbon to the deep ocean. The BCP plays a key role in Earth’s climate by removing 10 Pg of carbon from surface waters each year, with the Southern Ocean (SO) pump representing 33% of the global BCP.
Carbon export from the BCP has long been solely attributed to the gravitational sinking of large particles following the spring phytoplankton bloom. Conspicuous imbalances in ocean carbon budgets have recently challenged this long-lived paradigm. Several lines of observational evidence have demonstrated the importance of additional export pathways that transfer all classes of particles to depth at different times of the year. Physical transport of organic matter by vertical mixing or active transport by zooplankton vertical migration should now be considered as major components of the BCP. CAPTURE (CArbon PaThways in the soUtheRn ocEan) aims at developing a mechanistic and quantitative understanding of these BCP components using year-round and depth-resolved observations from heavily instrumented Biogeochemical Argo floats. We will address the interlinking of these components over complete annual cycles, introducing the novel concept of BCP seasonality. This multidisciplinary approach, combining physical oceanography, phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology and biogeochemistry, will fundamentally change our understanding of key climate-related processes and help close ocean carbon budgets.
By providing a synoptic vision of the biogeochemical state of the SO and its capacity to store atmospheric CO2, CAPTURE will address a major societal challenge and assist decision-makers. The transfer of knowledge between all partners of this project, from both academic and industrial sectors, will enhance European scientific excellence and career prospects of the applicant.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecology
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesoceanographyphysical oceanography
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeochemistrybiogeochemistry
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
75006 Paris
France