Microstructure and composition of marine aggregates as co-determinants for vertical particulate organic carbon transfer in the global ocean

Maerz, Joeran; Six, Katharina D.; Stemmler, Irene; Ahmerkamp, Soeren; Ilyina, Tatiana

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1765-2020

Articles | Volume 17, issue 7

Biogeosciences, 17, 1765–1803, 2020

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1765-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Biogeosciences, 17, 1765–1803, 2020

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1765-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 7

Research article 03 Apr 2020

Research article | 03 Apr 2020

Microstructure and composition of marine aggregates as co-determinants for vertical particulate organic carbon transfer in the global ocean

Joeran Maerz et al.

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Final revised paper (published on 03 Apr 2020)
Preprint (discussion started on 25 Sep 2019)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Referee comment', Anonymous Referee #1, 22 Nov 2019
- AC1: 'Reply to the Comments of Reviewer #1', Joeran Maerz, 27 Jan 2020
RC2: 'Review of Maerz et al', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 Dec 2019
- AC2: 'Reply to the Comments of Reviewer #2', Joeran Maerz, 27 Jan 2020

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (03 Feb 2020) by Carolin Löscher

AR by Joeran Maerz on behalf of the Authors (05 Feb 2020) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (17 Feb 2020) by Carolin Löscher

Post-review adjustments

AA: Author's adjustment | EA: Editor approval

AA by Joeran Maerz on behalf of the Authors (31 Mar 2020) Author's adjustment Manuscript

EA: Adjustments approved (02 Apr 2020) by Carolin Löscher

Short summary

Marine micro-algae bind carbon dioxide, CO₂. During their decay, snowflake-like aggregates form that sink, remineralize and transport organically bound CO₂ to depth; this is referred to as the biological carbon pump. In our model study, we elucidate how variable aggregate composition impacts the global pattern of vertical carbon fluxes. Our mechanistic model approach advances the representation of the global biological carbon pump and promotes a more realistic projection under climate change.