The pelagic food web, showing the central involvement of marine microorganisms in how the ocean imports carbon and then exports it back to the atmosphere and ocean floor
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The biological pump (or ocean carbon biological pump or marine biological carbon pump) is the ocean's biologically driven sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere and land runoff to the ocean interior and seafloor sediments.[1] In other words, it is a biologically mediated process which results in the sequestering of carbon in the deep ocean away from the atmosphere and the land. The biological pump is the biological component of the "marine carbon pump" which contains both a physical and biological component. It is the part of the broader oceanic carbon cycle responsible for the cycling of organic matter formed mainly by phytoplankton during photosynthesis (soft-tissue pump), as well as the cycling of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) formed into shells by certain organisms such as plankton and mollusks (carbonate pump).[2]
Budget calculations of the biological carbon pump are based on the ratio between sedimentation (carbon export to the ocean floor) and remineralization (release of carbon to the atmosphere).
The biological pump is not so much the result of a single process, but rather the sum of a number of processes each of which can influence biological pumping. Overall, the pump transfers about 10.2 gigatonnes of carbon every year into the ocean's interior and a total of 1300 gigatonnes carbon over an average 127 years.[3] This takes carbon out of contact with the atmosphere for several thousand years or longer. An ocean without a biological pump would result in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels about 400 ppm higher than the present day.
^Sigman DM & GH Haug. 2006. The biological pump in the past. In: Treatise on Geochemistry; vol. 6, (ed.). Pergamon Press, pp. 491-528
^Hain, M.P.; Sigman, D.M.; Haug, G.H. (2014). "The Biological Pump in the Past". Treatise on Geochemistry(PDF). Vol. 8 (2 ed.). pp. 485–517. doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00618-5. ISBN 9780080983004. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
^Nowicki, Michael; DeVries, Tim; Siegel, David A. (March 2022). "Quantifying the Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways of the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump". Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 36 (3). Bibcode:2022GBioC..3607083N. doi:10.1029/2021GB007083. S2CID 246458736.
The biologicalpump (or ocean carbon biologicalpump or marine biological carbon pump) is the ocean's biologically driven sequestration of carbon from...
carbonate pump could be termed the carbonate counter pump. It works counter to the biologicalpump by counteracting the CO2 flux from the biologicalpump. Oceanographers...
through the oceans. These three pumps are: (1) the solubility pump, (2) the carbonate pump, and (3) the biologicalpump. The total active pool of carbon...
around a whale fall, but it also has potential implications for the biologicalpump, or the flux of organic material from the surface ocean to depth. Whales...
biological pumping. The pump transfers about 11 billion tonnes of carbon every year into the ocean's interior. An ocean without the biologicalpump would result...
sequestered through the biologicalpump in the event of cells sinking. Viral shunting helps increase the efficiency of the biologicalpump by mostly altering...
A peristaltic pump, also commonly known as a roller pump, is a type of positive displacement pump used for pumping a variety of fluids. The fluid is contained...
sediments, and is thus a key component of the biologicalpump. Soil organic matter is anything in the soil of biological origin. Carbon is its key component comprising...
heavy and sink very fast into the abyss. This process is called the biologicalpump. As the waters around Antarctica are very deep (2,000–4,000 metres...
through the oceans. These three pumps are: (1) the solubility pump, (2) the carbonate pump, and (3) the biologicalpump. The total active pool of carbon...
of the gas. The solubility pump has a biological counterpart known as the biologicalpump. For an overview of both pumps, see Raven & Falkowski (1999)...
A proton pump is an integral membrane protein pump that builds up a proton gradient across a biological membrane. Proton pumps catalyze the following...
in the dark ocean can impact atmospheric CO2 concentration. The biological carbon pump (BCP) is a crucial mechanism by which atmospheric CO2 is taken up...
production from the biological process of oxygenic photosynthesis in conjunction with a biological sink known as the biologicalpump and a geologic process...
photic zone to the aphotic zone below, which is referred to as the biologicalpump. Export production is the amount of organic matter produced in the...
of organisms. Calcium ions can also be utilized biologically, as calcium is essential to biological functions such as the production of bones and teeth...
seafloor, and salps are abundant enough to have an effect on the ocean's biologicalpump. Consequently, large changes in their abundance or distribution may...
goods and services (1-5% of global total) that the oceans provide. Biologicalpump Biomass (ecology) f-ratio Productivity Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) Lists...
production, energy flow and the carbon cycle. Plankton drive the "biologicalpump", a process by which the ocean ecosystem transports carbon from the...
reverses the typical flow of nutrients in the ocean's biologicalpump, contributing to the "whale pump." Whales feed at deeper levels where krill is found...
important, and biogeochemically they play significant roles in the marine biologicalpump and the carbon cycle. Depending on habitat, they can produce up to...
saturation point beyond which they cannot store additional carbon. Biologicalpump f-ratio Plankton Marine snow Phycosphere Azam, Farooq; Fenchel, Tom;...
formulated by Tsunogai et al. (1999), the pump is believed to occur where the solubility and biologicalpumps interact with a local hydrography that feeds...
stimulate phytoplankton growth. Viral activity may also affect the biologicalpump, the process whereby carbon is sequestered in the deep ocean. Microorganisms...
Biogeochemical cycles involve the interaction of biological, geological, and chemical processes. Biological processes include the influence of microorganisms...
report their position (usually via satellite) in order to be recovered. Biologicalpump f-ratio Marine snow Mooring (oceanography) Primary production Raven...
the lipid pump has been reported to be comparable to the global POC flux from the biologicalpump, observational challenges with the lipid pump from deficient...
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