Explaining 'seasonal migrant pump' (IMAGE)
Caption
Left panel: The traditional view of how zooplankton transport carbon to depth by eating phytoplankton in surface waters in summer, whereby their waste material (Particulate Organic Carbon, POC) sinks passively to great depth, thereby storing the carbon for thousands of years. Right panel: This new study shows that a winter process known as the ‘seasonal migrant pump’ also leads to a substantial deep carbon storage. The zooplankton migrate downwards in autumn to overwinter below 500m where their respiration and death directly inject around 65 million tonnes of carbon annually into the deep ocean.
Credit
Yang, G. et al.
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