Biological pumps

Inorganic carbon fixed by phytoplankton can be transformed into particulate materials after a series of biogeochemical processes (Song et al., 2008). 

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Anderson RF, Chase Z, Fleisher MQ, Sachs JP (2002) The Southern Ocean s biological pump during the last glacial maximnm. Deep-Sea Research 1149 1909-1938 Anderson RF, Fleisher MQ, Kubik P (2001) Boimdary scavenging in the North Atlantic ocean. EOS Trans AGU (Fall Meeting Snpplement) OS21D-11... 

Maier-Reimer, E. 1993. The biological pump in the greenhouse. Global Planet Change. 8, 13-15. 

From a geochemical perspective, sinking POM is an important mechanism by which carbon and other elements are transferred from the sea surfece into the deep sea and onto the sediments. This transport is termed the biological pump and includes the sinking of inorganic particles that are of biogenic origin, namely calcium carbonate and silicate shells. 

Regardless of the degree of its accuracy, the Broecker Box model can be used to obtain further insights into the relative importance of the biological pump. For example, we note that the surface-water volume is 10 times smaller than the deepwater. Since the rates of downwelling and upwelling are equal, seawater must spend one-tenth of its time in the surface-water box. The residence time of surface water is then 1/10 x 1000, or lOOy. Since the volume of surfece water is small, as is for the biolimiting ele-... 

Much of the trace metal demand of plankton in the open ocean may be supplied by the aeolian transport of dust. If trace metals limit plankton growth, the factors that control the transport of dust will also ultimately control the ocean s biological pump and, hence, atmospheric CO2 levels. This suggests the existence of powerful feedbacks among the processes that control global climate. For example, shifts in climate that lead to regional... 

Importance of the biological pump in supplying the benthos with POM. Source From Rullkotter, J. (2000). Marine Geochemistry, Springer Verlag, pp. 125-126. 

The export of DOC into the middle and bottom waters of the ocean represents 20% of the total annual export of carbon from the surfece waters. Thus, DOC export represents a significant part of the biological pump contributing to the ocean s ability to extract and store atmospheric carbon. This export also has ramifications on nutrient... 

Zonally integrated giobai sea-air exchange fluxes for CO2 (positive fluxes denote outgassing from the ocean), (a) Effects of the gas exchange pump and the biological pumps (preindustrial). 

The future response of the ocean to increasing injection of anthropogenic carbon into the atmosphere can be predicted by considering how the physical and biological pumps are most likely to respond. Initially, the physical fectors will lead to a decrease in the ocean s uptake rate. This is a result of four fectors. First, as discussed in Chapter 25.3.1,... 

Biological pump The transport of chemicals in the ocean as a result of incorporation into biological hard and soft parts, followed by pelagic sedimentation into the deep sea. 

Priority 1 — Quantifying the Anthropogenic Carbon Input Priority 2a — Understanding the Biological Pump Priority 2b — Tracing Water Masses Priority 3 — Other Analytes of Interest... 

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