How Does The Biological Carbon Pump Help Regulate Climate
The biological carbon pump helps regulate the climate by removing carbon dioxide from the Earths surface and moving it into the deep layers of the ocean. This way, it reduces the volume of greenhouse gases in the Ozone layer that cause global warming and changes in weather patterns. In other words, the inefficiency of the pump is responsible for the prevalence of unpredictable climatic conditions and weather patterns.
Future Directions Of Sphingosine
Despite the limitations, there are many potential future directions for research on sphingosine as a therapeutic target. One direction is to develop drugs that target the enzymes involved in sphingosine metabolism, such as SphK and ASM, to modulate the levels of sphingosine and its metabolites.
Another direction is to study the role of sphingosine in the immune system and explore its potential as a therapeutic target in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Additionally, research into the role of sphingosine in cancer could lead to the development of new cancer drugs that target sphingosine or its metabolites.
Furthermore, there are other areas of research related to sphingosine that could also be promising for the development of new therapies. For example, research could be done to understand the role of sphingosine in the cardiovascular system and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, since ceramide and S1P also related with sphingosine, the research on ceramide and S1P could be valuable for the understanding of sphingosine role and activity.
Finally, it could be interesting to study the role of sphingosine in cellular senescence and aging, as changes in sphingolipid metabolism have been linked to aging-associated diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and metabolic disorders.
What Causes Biological Pump
The bacterial feed on the dead remains, and change the organic carbon back into carbon dioxide, water and mineral nutrients. The transformation of carbon dioxide and nutrients into organic carbon, its sinking into the in the deep ocean, and its decomposition at depth, is known as the biological carbon pump.
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Introduction: The Ocean Biological Carbon Pump A Paradigm Shift
Until recently, the efforts of the research community studying the downward transport of biogenic carbon in the ocean were focused on the gravitational sinking of biogenic particles to depth. This mechanism was the central paradigm driving studies on the biological carbon pump , the concept of which was created by Volk and Hoffert . However, a growing number of papers alluded to other pathways of biogenic carbon transfer to depth, including physical mechanisms of downward carbon injection and vertical migrations of organisms.
According to the recently formulated paradigm, the downward pumping of biogenic carbon in the ocean is performed by the combined action of six biological carbon pumps . The word biological in BCP refers to the transfer of biogenic material to depth, mediated by either biological or physical processes. The six BCPs are known as the Biological Gravitational Pump, three physically mediated pumps , and two animal-mediated pumps . Fish, jellyfish and other animals larger than zooplankton also perform diel vertical migrations, and may thus contribute to the animal-mediated pumps .
Getting Carbon Into The Ocean Is One Mattergetting It Down To The Deep Ocean Is Another
About 50 Gt of carbon is drawn down into the biological pump per year but only a small fraction of this carbon makes its way down into the deep ocean. .
- What happens to the carbon as it moves down through the biological pump?
- What is the role of the “microbial loop” in moving that carbon?
- How much carbon actually makes it down to the deep ocean and why is this important?
To answer these questions, you will visit an interactive developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and then watch a video on the ocean’s microbial loop.
- the ecological role of microbes in the ocean food web
- the role of microbes and the microbial loop in reducing the amount of carbon that eventually makes its way down to the bottom of the ocean.
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Direct Atmospheric Pco2 Signature Of The Biological Pump
6.10.2.5.1Organic carbon pump
The biological pump has a first-order impact on the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere, and therefore on the climate of the earth. The removal of dissolved CO2 from surface water during photosynthesis decreases the equilibrium partial pressure of CO2 in the overlying atmosphere . Changes in the biological pump in some form may be responsible for the glacial/interglacial pCO2 cycles . The strongest direct impact of the biological pump on pCO2 is driven by the depletion of surface waters of dissolved CO2 by the production of organic carbon .
Timescale. The timescale for sea-surface depletion of CO2 to affect atmospheric pCO2 is that of ocean rearrangement and atmosphere/ ocean gas exchange equilibration: on the order of hundreds of years. Looking into the past for biological pump-driven changes in the pCO2 of the atmosphere, we would look for changes that occur on this timescale .
Model sensitivity. One of the more recent surprise was the discovery that the sensitivity of atmospheric pCO2 to the biological pump is quite model specific . In particular, box models of ocean chemistry are more sensitive to the efficiency of the biological pump than are ocean models based on a continuum representation of circulation and chemistry, most notably the general circulation models . The horizontal axis of this plot is the inventory of the dissolved nutrient phosphorus, in the form of PO
J. Kirk Cochran, in, 2016
Effects Of Climate Change
Effect of temperature on the biological pumpEffects of climate change on oceans
Changes in land use, the combustion of fossil fuels, and the production of cement have led to an increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. At present, about one third of anthropogenic emissions of CO2 may be entering the ocean, but this is quite uncertain. Some research suggests that a link between elevated CO2 and marine primary production exists.
Climate change may affect the biological pump in the future by warming and stratifying the surface ocean. It is believed that this could decrease the supply of nutrients to the euphotic zone, reducing primary production there. Also, changes in the ecological success of calcifying organisms caused by ocean acidification may affect the biological pump by altering the strength of the hard tissues pump. This may then have a “knock-on” effect on the soft tissues pump because calcium carbonate acts to ballast sinking organic material.
Further, decreased ocean pH due to ocean acidification may thwart the ability of coccolithophores to generate calcareous plates, potentially affecting the biological pump however, it appears that some species are more sensitive than others. Thus, future changes in the relative abundance of these or other phytoplankton taxa could have a marked impact on total ocean productivity, subsequently affecting ocean biogeochemistry and carbon storage.
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How Does The Biological Pump Affect The Carbon Cycle
The biological pump affects the carbon cycle by bringing some carbon atoms into the ocean and releasing some of them back into the atmosphere. Once it captures and takes carbon into the deep sea, the amount of carbon on the waters surface reduces temporarily. However, most of these gases that diffuse into the water go back into the atmosphere and allow the carbon cycle to continue.
How Does The Biological Pump Move Carbon
The bacterial feed on the dead remains, and change the organic carbon back into carbon dioxide, water and mineral nutrients. The transformation of carbon dioxide and nutrients into organic carbon, its sinking into the in the deep ocean, and its decomposition at depth, is known as the biological carbon pump.
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What Is The Biological Carbon Pump Whats The Difference Between It And The Oceanic Carbon Cycle
What is the main difference between the oceanic carbon cycle and the biological carbon pump? The biological pump is part of the oceanic carbon cycle. One that makes up this cycle is the solubility pump. It transports carbon dioxide in the form of dissolved inorganic carbon. Another one is the carbonate pump, which releases carbon dioxide, countering the biological pump. The biological pump is the third one. What is the biological carbon pump? Its part of the carbonic cycle that depends on biological processes to capture and store carbon dioxide in the deep ocean.
Phytoplankton Are Small Photosynthetic Organisms That Move Carbon Into The Oceanic Biological Pump
The oceanic biological carbon pump is driven by organisms that live in the ocean. Just like the terrestrial carbon cycle, the oceanic biological carbon pump is all about photosynthesizing, respiring, eating, producing waste products, dying and decomposing. The biological pump plays a major role in:
- transforming carbon compounds into new forms of carbon compounds
- moving carbon throughout the ocean
- moving carbon down to sea floor sediments
are microscopic, one-celled organisms that drift in the sunlit surface areas of the world’s oceans and are key to bringing carbon down into the ocean biological pump from the atmosphere via the process of photosynthesis.
Just like land plants, phytoplankton use chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments to capture Sun’s energy for photosynthesis. Using light energy from the Sun, carbon dioxide, and important ocean nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B, they convert the carbon dioxide and water into sugars and other carbon compounds. These carbon compounds enter the marine food web and some carbon eventually ends up in deep ocean currents and seafloor sediments. Phytoplankton return CO2 and O2 to the atmosphere when they respire. Over 50% of the world’s oxygen needed by us to breathe is produced by phytoplankton.
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The Biological Carbon Pump
The ‘biological carbon pump’ contributes to the ocean’s role in taking up and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Without the BCP the atmospheric concentration of CO2 would be much higher.
What is the biological carbon pump?
Just like plants on land, the microscopic marine phytoplankton take up carbon dioxide and water from their surrounding and use energy from sunlight to turn it into glucose and oxygen . The glucose powers the metabolism of the plankton cells, and can be turned into other organic compounds. If enough nutrients are available the plankton will grow and multiply.
Phytoplankton are the ‘grass of the sea’ – at the bottom of the marine food chain. Respiration by animals, bacteria and plants ‘remineralises’ the organic carbon – turning it back into carbon dioxide and water.
When plants and animals die their remains sink into deeper water as and decompose, releasing carbon dioxide and nutrients back into the water. This is why nutrients such as nitrate are scarce in surface water, but found in much higher concentrations in the deep ocean.
Detritus is the remains of dead plant and animals or faecal pellets colonised by bacteria. The bacterial ‘feed’ on the dead remains, and change the organic carbon back into carbon dioxide, water and mineral nutrients.
Remineralisation depth is key to the ocean’s carbon uptake
Figure 1. The biological carbon pump. Credit: NOC/V.Byfield. PDF available on request.
The biological carbon pump
Adequate Calibration Of The Satellite Remote Sensing Observations Will Require Increasing The Number Of Locations Where The Biological Pump Is Determined By Upper Ocean Mass Balance
Argo Float oxygen measurements from the North Pacific at Ocean Station Papa . The image is a frame from a animation showing upper-results from oxygen sensor deployed for two years.
Sea glider oxygen measurements from the North Pacific at Ocean Station Papa . The image is a frame from a animation showing upper-results from oxygen sensor deployed for more than one year.
About half of the photosynthesis on Earth takes place in the euphotic zone of the oceans. This process uses energy from the sun to produce organic matter and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. The ratio of oxygen to organic carbon produced is about 1.45 and appears to be roughly constant over time and space. The net flux of photosynthetically-produced organic carbon from the upper ocean to the interior removes CO2 from the atmosphere and provides the substrate for respiration reactions that consume oxygen and produces metabolites in the deep sea. We measure this flux, called the oceans biological pump, by determining the annual mass balance of oxygen in the upper ocean.
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Processes In The Biological Pump
Processes in the biological pumpCarbon fluxes in white boxes are in GtâCâyrâ1 and carbon masses in dark boxes are in Gt C
In the diagram on the right, phytoplankton convert CO2, which has dissolved from the atmosphere into the surface oceans , into particulate organic carbon during primary production . Phytoplankton are then consumed by copepods, krill and other small zooplankton grazers, which in turn are preyed upon by higher trophic levels. Any unconsumed phytoplankton form aggregates, and along with zooplankton faecal pellets, sink rapidly and are exported out of the mixed layer . Krill, copepods, zooplankton and microbes intercept phytoplankton in the surface ocean and sinking detrital particles at depth, consuming and respiring this POC to CO2 , such that only a small proportion of surface-produced carbon sinks to the deep ocean . As krill and smaller zooplankton feed, they also physically fragment particles into small, slower- or non-sinking pieces , retarding POC export. This releases dissolved organic carbon either directly from cells or indirectly via bacterial solubilisation . Bacteria can then remineralise the DOC to DIC .
Avoid Plastics And Non
A recent study has shown that weve been using approximately 65 billion gloves and 129 billion face masks worldwide every month since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these end up in the deep ocean, where various sea animals can confuse them for food.
Sea turtle confuses face mask for food pixabay
When sea animals ingest plastics, gloves, face masks, and other wastes that end up in the deep sea, they die, leading to the onset of the second stage of the biological pump process, which is sinking and forming aggregates.
Note: The first stage is the production of carbon by sea plants through photosynthesis in the euphotic zone, as we saw above. The last one is the decomposition and formation of sedimentary rocks.
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Sinking Shells Bring Carbon Down To The Deep Ocean
When shell-builders die and sink, the carbon in their shells is transported down to the deep ocean where the carbon can become part of deep ocean currents and seafloor sediments. Many shells dissolve before reaching the seafloor sediments, a process that releases CO2into deep ocean currents. Shells that do not dissolve build up slowly on the sea floor forming calcium carbonate sediments. Eventually, tectonic processes of high heat and pressure transform these sediments into limestone. This process locks massive amounts of carbon away for millions of years.
Sphingosine Metabolism And Signalling
Sphingosine is metabolized by different enzymes, including sphingosine kinase and acid ceramidase . These enzymes convert sphingosine into S1P and ceramide, respectively. S1P has been shown to be an important signaling molecule that regulates various cellular processes, including cell proliferation, survival, and migration. In addition, S1P can also modulate the immune response, which is involved in the development of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Sphingosine also signal through ceramide. Ceramide is involved in the regulation of cell death and survival, as well as in the control of cellular stress response. Ceramide can activate a number of signaling pathways, such as the MAP kinase pathway and the PI3K/Akt pathway, which can lead to changes in gene expression and cell behavior.
Because Sphingosine is so closely related to biochemical reactions in the human body, our lab has also purchased a batch of Sphingosine through Benchchem. Through experiments, we have found that Sphingosine is an essential regulator of brain homeostasis and that this drug is also helpful in treating brain diseases.
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Prior Knowledge For Students
Students should be familiar with the importance of CO2 as a greenhouse gas and be introduced to different global carbon reservoirs. Students have been introduced to photosynthesis and respiration as important biologically important mechanisms, but may have not yet related this to the marine carbon cycle, except as an aspect of short-term variability. Introduction to the solubility of CO2 in the oceans would be helpful before this module, but not necessary.
Where Is The Leak In The Biological Pump
We often refer to the Southern Ocean as a leak in the biological pump, Sigman said. Sigman and his colleagues have found that an increase in the Southern Oceans upwelling could be responsible for stabilizing the climate of the Holocene, the period reaching more than 10,000 years before the Industrial Revolution.
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Carbon Dioxide Diffuses Into The Ocean Carbon Cycle Via The Air
Molecules of CO2 enter the ocean by diffusing into the sea surface waters and dissolvinga physio-chemical process. The amount of CO2 that diffuses and dissolves in the sea surface water depends on variables such as wind, sea surface mixing, concentrations of CO2, and the temperature of the water.