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The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon (carbon not associated with a living thing, such as carbon dioxide) and organic carbon (carbon that is, or has been, incorporated into a living thing). Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.
The Oceanic carbon cycle is a central process to the global carbon cycle and contains both inorganic carbon (carbon not associated with a living thing, such as carbon dioxide) and organic carbon (carbon that is, or has been, incorporated into a living thing). Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter.
Slow or deep carbon cycling is an important process, though it is not as well-understood as the relatively fast carbon movement through the atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere, ocean, and geosphere. [86] The deep carbon cycle is intimately connected to the movement of carbon in the Earth's surface and atmosphere.
The surface ocean engages in air-sea interactions and absorbs carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the atmosphere, making the ocean the Earth's largest sink for atmospheric CO 2. Carbon dioxide dissolves in and reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid. Subsequent reactions then produce carbonate (CO 3 2−), bicarbonate (HCO 3 −), and hydrogen (H ...
In general, dissolved organic carbon is introduced into the ocean environment from bacterial lysis, the leakage or exudation of fixed carbon from phytoplankton (e.g., mucilaginous exopolymer from diatoms), sudden cell senescence, sloppy feeding by zooplankton, the excretion of waste products by aquatic animals, or the breakdown or dissolution ...
The exchange between the ocean and atmosphere can take centuries, and the weathering of rocks can take millions of years. Carbon in the ocean precipitates to the ocean floor where it can form sedimentary rock and be subducted into the Earth's mantle. Mountain building processes result in the return of this geologic carbon to the Earth's surface.
By eating and excreting phytoplankton and shedding their exoskeletons, Antarctic kill can transfer 0.3 million tonnes of carbon to the deep ocean every day, which is equivalent to the UK’s daily ...
Most animal biomass is found in the oceans, where arthropods, such as copepods, account for about 1 billion tonnes C and fish for another 0.7 billion tonnes C. [1] Roughly half of the biomass of fish in the world are mesopelagic, such as lanternfish, [25] spending most of the day in the deep, dark waters. [26]