Biological carbon pump estimate based on multidecadal hydrographic data.

The transfer of photosynthetically produced organic carbon from surface to mesopelagic waters draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere1. However, current observation-based estimates disagree on the strength of this biological carbon pump (BCP)2. Earth system models (ESMs) also exhibit a large spread of BCP estimates, indicating limited representations of the known carbon export pathways3. Here we use several decades of hydrographic observations to produce a top-down estimate of the strength of the BCP with an inverse biogeochemical model that implicitly accounts for all known export pathways. Our estimate of total organic carbon (TOC) export at 73.4 m (model euphotic zone depth) is 15.00 ± 1.12 Pg C year-1, with only two-thirds reaching 100 m depth owing to rapid remineralization of organic matter in the upper water column. Partitioned by sequestration time below the euphotic zone, τ, the globally integrated organic carbon production rate with τ > 3 months is 11.09 ± 1.02 Pg C year-1, dropping to 8.25 ± 0.30 Pg C year-1 for τ > 1 year, with 81% contributed by the non-advective-diffusive vertical flux owing to sinking particles and vertically migrating zooplankton. Nevertheless, export of organic carbon by mixing and other fluid transport of dissolved matter and suspended particles remains regionally important for meeting the respiratory carbon demand. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the sequestration efficiency inferred from our inversion suggests that future global warming may intensify the recycling of organic matter in the upper ocean, potentially weakening the BCP.

New nutrients exert fundamental control on dissolved organic carbon accumulation in the surface Atlantic Ocean.

The inventories of carbon residing in organic matter dissolved in the ocean [dissolved organic carbon (DOC)] and in the atmosphere as CO2 are of the same order of magnitude, such that small changes in the DOC pool could have important consequences in atmospheric carbon and thus climate. DOC in the global ocean is largely formed in the sunlit euphotic zone, but identifying predictable controls on that production is an important yet unrealized goal. Here, we use a testable and causative correlation between the net production of DOC and the consumption of new nutrients in the euphotic zone of the Atlantic Ocean. We demonstrate that new nutrients introduced to the euphotic zone by upwelling in divergence zones and by winter convective overturn of the water column, and the primary production associated with those nutrients, are the ultimate driver of DOC distributions across the Atlantic basins. As new nutrient input will change with a changing climate, the role of DOC in the ocean's biological pump should likewise be impacted.

A global ocean dissolved organic phosphorus concentration database (DOPv2021).

Dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) concentration distributions in the global surface ocean inform our understanding of marine biogeochemical processes such as nitrogen fixation and primary production. The spatial distribution of DOP concentrations in the surface ocean reflect production by primary producers and consumption as an organic nutrient by phytoplankton including diazotrophs and other microbes, as well as other loss processes such as photolysis. Compared to dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, however, relatively few marine DOP concentration measurements have been made, largely due to the lack of automated analysis techniques. Here we present a database of marine DOP concentration measurements (DOPv2021) that includes new (n = 730) and previously published (n = 3140) observations made over the last ~30 years (1990-2021), including 1751 observations in the upper 50 m. This dataset encompasses observations from all major ocean basins including the poorly represented Indian, South Pacific, and Southern Oceans and provides insight into spatial distributions of DOP in the ocean. It is also valuable for researchers who work on marine primary production and nitrogen fixation.