Articles | Volume 22, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2569-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-2569-2025
Research article
 | 
06 Jun 2025
Research article |  | 06 Jun 2025

Variable organic matter stoichiometry enhances the biological drawdown of CO2 in the northwest European shelf seas

Kubilay Timur Demir, Moritz Mathis, Jan Kossack, Feifei Liu, Ute Daewel, Christoph Stegert, Helmuth Thomas, and Corinna Schrum

Related authors

Evaluating ocean alkalinity enhancement as a carbon dioxide removal strategy in the North Sea
Feifei Liu, Ute Daewel, Jan Kossack, Kubilay Timur Demir, Helmuth Thomas, and Corinna Schrum
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-81,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-81, 2025
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Air - Sea Exchange
Anomalous summertime CO2 sink in the subpolar Southern Ocean promoted by early 2021 sea ice retreat
Kirtana Naëck, Jacqueline Boutin, Sebastiaan Swart, Marcel du Plessis, Liliane Merlivat, Laurence Beaumont, Antonio Lourenco, Francesco d'Ovidio, Louise Rousselet, Brian Ward, and Jean-Baptiste Sallée
Biogeosciences, 22, 1947–1968, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1947-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1947-2025, 2025
Short summary
Aerosol trace element solubility and deposition fluxes over the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea basins
Rachel U. Shelley, Alex R. Baker, Max Thomas, and Sam Murphy
Biogeosciences, 22, 585–600, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-585-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-585-2025, 2025
Short summary
Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) climatologies, fluxes, and trends – Part 1: Differences between seawater DMS estimations
Sankirna D. Joge, Anoop S. Mahajan, Shrivardhan Hulswar, Christa A. Marandino, Martí Galí, Thomas G. Bell, and Rafel Simó
Biogeosciences, 21, 4439–4452, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4439-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4439-2024, 2024
Short summary
Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) climatologies, fluxes, and trends – Part 2: Sea–air fluxes
Sankirna D. Joge, Anoop S. Mahajan, Shrivardhan Hulswar, Christa A. Marandino, Martí Galí, Thomas G. Bell, Mingxi Yang, and Rafel Simó
Biogeosciences, 21, 4453–4467, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4453-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4453-2024, 2024
Short summary
Three-Compartment, Two Parameter, Concentration-Driven Model for Uptake of Excess Atmospheric CO2 by the Global Ocean
Stephen E. Schwartz
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2893,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2893, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Aminot, A. and Kérouel, R.: Dissolved organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in the N-E Atlantic and the N-W Mediterranean with particular reference to non-refractory fractions and degradation, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. I, 51, 1975–1999, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2004.07.016, 2004. 
Anderson, T. R. and Pondaven, P.: Non-Redfield carbon and nitrogen cycling in the Sargasso Sea: Pelagic imbalances and export flux, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. I, 50, 573–591, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0637(03)00034-7, 2003. 
Anderson, T. R., Hessen, D. O., Elser, J. J., and Urabe, J.: Metabolic Stoichiometry and the Fate of Excess Carbon and Nutrients in Consumers, Am. Nat., 165, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.2307/3473193, 2005. 
Aricò, S., Watson, A. J., Wanninkhof, R., Thomas, H., Shutler, J. D., Schuster, U., Schoo, K. L., Sanders, R., Sabine, C., Robinson, C., Monteiro, P., McKinley, G. A., Jiao, N., Ishii, M., Isensee, K., Gruber, N., Dai, M., Chai, F., Cotrim da Cunha, L., Boyd, P. W., Bakker, D. C. E., Arrieta, J. M., and Lauvset, S. K.: Integrated Ocean Carbon Research: A Summary of Ocean Carbon Research, and Vision of Coordinated Ocean Carbon Research and Observations for the Next Decade, UNESCO, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000376708 (last access: 14 November 2023), 2021. 
Artioli, Y., Blackford, J. C., Butenschön, M., Holt, J. T., Wakelin, S. L., Thomas, H., Borges, A. V., and Allen, J. I.: The carbonate system in the North Sea: Sensitivity and model validation, J. Marine Syst., 102–104, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2012.04.006, 2012. 
Download
Short summary
This study examines how variations in the ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in organic matter affect carbon cycling in the northwest European shelf seas. Traditional models with fixed ratios tend to underestimate biological carbon uptake. By integrating variable ratios into a regional model, we find that carbon dioxide uptake increases by 9 %–31 %. These results highlight the need to include variable ratios for accurate assessments of regional and global carbon cycles.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint