Sedimented hydrothermal vents occur where heated, mineral-rich (hydrothermal) water seeps through seafloor sediments. They host chemosynthetic microbes, which use chemical energy to fix dissolved carbon dioxide into sugars (chemosynthesis). We conducted carbon tracing experiments, and observed chemosynthesis at both vent and non-vent sites. Thus, chemosynthesis occurred over a much larger area than expected, suggesting it is more widespread than previously thought.

In this paper, we use a large set of measurements made using in situ and lab techniques to elucidate the cause of dissolved inorganic carbon fluxes in sediments from the Rhône delta and its companion compound alkalinity, which carries the absorption capacity of coastal waters with respect to atmospheric CO₂. We show that sediment processes (sulfate reduction, FeS precipitation and accumulation) are crucial in generating the alkalinity fluxes observed in this study by in situ incubation chambers.

We found that 24 % of the total diatoms community in the Arctic water column (450 m depth) was located below the photic layer. Healthy diatom communities in active spring–bloom stages remained in the photic layer. Dying diatom communities exported a large fraction of the biomass to the aphotic zone, fuelling carbon sequestration and benthic ecosystems in the Arctic. The results of the study conform to a conceptual model where diatoms grow during the bloom until silicic acid stocks are depleted.

Contributions of rivers to the oceanic cycling of carbon have been poorly represented in global models until now. Here, we assess the long–term implications of preindustrial riverine loads in the ocean in a novel framework which estimates the loads through a hierarchy of weathering and land–ocean export models. We investigate their impacts for the oceanic biological production and air–sea carbon flux. Finally, we assess the potential incorporation of the framework in an Earth system model.

Phosphorus (P) is an important soil nutrient that often limits plant growth and microbial activity in humid tropical forests. These ecosystems receive a large amount of rainfall that helps create frequent anoxic events in soils. Our results show that anoxic conditions reduced the strength of soil minerals to bind P even though a large amount of P was still bound to minerals. Our study suggests that anoxic events might serve as hot moments for plants and microbes to acquire P.

Weathering is a major control on atmospheric CO₂ at geologic timescales. Enhancement of this process can be used to actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. Field results are still scarce and with this experiment we try to add some near-natural insights into dissolution processes. Results show CO₂ sequestration potentials but also highlight the strong variability of outcomes that can be expected in natural environments. Such experiments are of the utmost importance to identify key processes.

Carbon stocks and dynamics are both uncertain in tropical forests, especially in Asia. We here quantify the carbon stock and recovery rate of a Thai landscape using airborne lidar and four decades of Landsat data. We show that the landscape has a high carbon stock despite its disturbance history and that secondary forests are accumulating carbon at high rate. Our study shows the potential synergy of remote sensing and field data to characterize the carbon dynamics of tropical forests.

We differentiate between sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM) (terrestrial, marine autochthonous production, and artificial island and seawater interaction) in coastal bay waters surrounded by large cities using multiple DOM tracers, including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON), stable carbon isotopes, fluorescent DOM, and the DOC/DON ratio.

We evaluated how freshwater ostracode species responded to long-term and abrupt climate fluctuations during the last 155 kyr in the northern Neotropical region. We used fossil records and species distribution modelling. Fossil evidence suggests negligible effects of long-term climate variations on aquatic niche stability. Models suggest that abrupt climate fluctuation forced species to migrate south to Central America. Micro-refugia and meta-populations can explain survival of endemic species.

We investigated the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on the production of climate active gas dimethylsulfide (DMS) in polar waters. We found that polar DMS production was unaffected by OA – in contrast to temperate waters, where large increases in DMS occurred. The regional differences in DMS response may reflect natural variability in community adaptation to ambient carbonate chemistry and should be taken into account in predicting the influence of future DMS emissions on Earth's climate.

Monitoring of the multiannual evolution of populations representing different trophic levels allows for obtaining insights into the impact of climate variability in marine coastal upwelling ecosystems. By using a multiyear, continuous (1,900 d) sediment trap record, we assess the dynamics and fluxes of calcareous, organic and siliceous microorganisms off Mauritania (NW Africa). The experiment allowed for the recognition of a general sequence of seasonal variations of the main populations.

Little is known about the rates of bacterial element cycling in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs). We measured bacterial production and rates of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes at various in situ oxygen concentrations in the OMZ off Peru. Our field data show unhampered bacterial activity at low oxygen concentrations. Meanwhile bacterial degradation of organic matter substantially contributed to the formation of the OMZ.

Deoxygenation of the oceans is potentially one of the most severe ecosystem stressors resulting from global warming given the high sensitivity of dissolved oxygen to ocean temperatures. Climate models suggest that despite the thermodynamic tendency of the oceans to lose oxygen, certain regions experience significant changes in the biologically driven O₂ consumption, resulting in a resistance against deoxygenation. Overturning circulation changes are responsible for such a behavior.

Coccolithophores account for a major fraction of the carbonate produced in the world's oceans. However, their contribution in the subantarctic Southern Ocean remains undocumented. We quantitatively partition calcium carbonate fluxes amongst coccolithophore species in the Australian–New Zealand sector of the Southern Ocean. We provide new insights into the importance of species other than Emiliania huxleyi in the carbon cycle and assess their possible response to projected environmental change.