Small marine animals called zooplankton feed on phytoplankton and are, in turn, eaten by larger marine organisms. The ocean’s so-called biological carbon pump removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it deep in the ocean on timescales that are important to the lifespan of humans. The solubility carbon pump, which stores much larger amounts of carbon, operates on timescales in the thousands of years and is a much slower mixing process. Through photosynthesis these organisms transform inorganic carbon in the atmosphere and in seawater into organic compounds, making them an essential part of Earth’s carbon cycle.

The $500 Billion Question: What’s the Value of Studying the Ocean’s Biological Carbon Pump?

They take up, transform, and recycle elements needed by other organisms, and help cycle elements between species in the ocean. Many creatures called zooplankton are also tiny protists, but the category simultaneously includes animals on the other end of the size scale. Jellyfish are among the simplest animals on Earth and are considered plankton, but some individuals have been measured at 130 feet long, longer than a blue whale. Larger phytoplankton are single-celled algae also known as protists—tiny organisms that also contain chloroplasts. Many photosynthetic protists are capable of movement and some also hunt and eat other single-celled organisms. Little is known about the animals that inhabit these waters, and even less is known about microbial life in this zone.

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• The resulting bathypelagic, or midnight, zone extends to about 4,000 meters (about 13,100 feet), which reaches the ocean floor in many places.

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• Too small to be caught in any net, these organisms were unknown until the 1970s, when improved technology made them visible.

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• Jellyfish are among the simplest animals on Earth and are considered plankton, but some individuals have been measured at 130 feet long, longer than a blue whale.
• A more detailed understanding of the pump’s ability to remove carbon will improve climate models and the ability to forecast the potential impacts of global heating.
• This process removes carbon dioxide dissolved in the water as phytoplankton incorporate the carbon as they grow.

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• Another major category is the gelatinous zooplankton or jellies, unrelated groups that all have soft, transparent bodies and spend much of their life drifting in the water column.

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A more detailed understanding of the pump’s ability to remove carbon will improve climate models and the ability to forecast the potential impacts of global heating. Despite how far offshore and difficult to reach the twilight zone is, recent technology innovations have begun to make it a more attractive location for commercial fisheries. We need to understand the impact such activities would have not only on the ecosystem, but also on the biological carbon pump and its ability to help us fight the climate crisis. As the level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere rises, the ocean’s pH—a measure of alkalinity and acidity—has fallen, meaning that it has become less alkaline and more acidic.

Short-circuiting the Biological Pump

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• Small marine animals called zooplankton feed on phytoplankton and are, in turn, eaten by larger marine organisms.

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• These vehicles are piloted remotely from ships to which they are tethered and collect water samples, organisms, video, and still photos of life in the depths.

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• Despite how far offshore and difficult to reach the twilight zone is, recent technology innovations have begun to make it a more attractive location for commercial fisheries.

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• In addition to the lack of light, the midnight zone is characterized by a steady temperature of around 4° Celsius (39° Fahrenheit).
• Zooplankton fill a crucial link between phytoplankton (“the grass of the sea”) and larger, open-ocean animals.
• Larger phytoplankton are single-celled algae also known as protists—tiny organisms that also contain chloroplasts.

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Life that exists in this zone must be able to function in cold temperatures and withstand extreme hydrostatic pressure. Despite the extreme environment, organisms here must find food and mates and avoid predators, just as they do in any ecosystem, and they have special adaptations that allow them to do so. Understanding how the biological carbon pump works to export carbon to the deep sea can help researchers improve models of the ocean’s role in climate. The ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide varies over time and space and is predicted to decline over the rest of this century.

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• When sunlight hits the ocean’s surface waters, it stimulates tiny marine plants called phytoplankton to photosynthesize.

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• The solubility carbon pump, which stores much larger amounts of carbon, operates on timescales in the thousands of years and is a much slower mixing process.

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• Life that exists in this zone must be able to function in cold temperatures and withstand extreme hydrostatic pressure.
• As carbon dioxide levels in surface waters decrease, water is then able to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

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• Most zooplankton spend their entire lives drifting, but the larvae of many fish and bottom-living animals, before they develop adult forms, are also part of this group.

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• Dense blooms of some organisms can deplete oxygen in coastal waters, causing fish and shellfish to suffocate.

Another major category is the gelatinous zooplankton or jellies, unrelated groups that all have soft, transparent bodies and spend much of their life drifting in the water column.

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Zooplankton fill a crucial link between phytoplankton (“the grass of the sea”) and larger, open-ocean animals. An account of the tools that have been employed to collect zooplankton has been recently prepared by Wiebe and Benfield (2000), and provides a description of standard sampling methods. In turn, the billions of cells produced might absorb enough heat-trapping carbon dioxide to cool the Earth’s Bonisa casino warming atmosphere.