Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Although seagrass meadows occupy only 0.1% of the area of the ocean floor, they account for 10–18% of the total oceanic carbon burial. [34] Currently global seagrass meadows are estimated to store as much as 19.9 Pg (petagrams or gigatons, equals a billion tons) of organic carbon. [ 34 ]
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.
Seagrasses evolved from terrestrial plants which recolonised the ocean 70 to 100 million years ago. The name seagrass stems from the many species with long and narrow leaves, which grow by rhizome extension and often spread across large "meadows" resembling grassland; many species superficially resemble terrestrial grasses of the family Poaceae.
Ocean mixed layer carbon, c m, is the only explicitly modelled ocean stock of carbon; though to estimate carbon cycle feedbacks the total ocean carbon is also calculated. [107] Current trends in climate change lead to higher ocean temperatures and acidity, thus modifying marine ecosystems. [108]
Part of the marine carbon cycle transforms carbon between non-living and living matter. Three main processes (or pumps) that make up the marine carbon cycle bring atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) into the ocean interior and distribute it through the oceans. These three pumps are: (1) the solubility pump, (2) the carbonate pump, and (3) the ...
The solid and dissolved minerals, which Equatic says can lock up carbon for at least 10,000 years, will be returned to the ocean or used on land.The seawater will also be sent back into the sea ...
It is also intimately linked to the cycling of other elements and compounds. The ocean plays a fundamental role in Earth's carbon cycle, helping to regulate atmospheric CO 2 concentration. The biological pump is a set of processes that transfer organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean, and is at the heart of the ocean carbon cycle. [4]
Blue carbon is defined by the IPCC as "Biologically driven carbon fluxes and storage in marine systems that are amenable to management." [2]: 2220 Another definition states: "Blue carbon refers to organic carbon that is captured and stored by the oceans and coastal ecosystems, particularly by vegetated coastal ecosystems: seagrass meadows, tidal marshes, and mangrove forests."