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Phytoplankton Do Not Produce Carbon‐Rich Organic Matter in High CO 2 Oceans
Author(s) -
Kim JaMyung,
Lee Kitack,
Suh YoungSang,
Han InSeong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2017gl075865
Subject(s) - phytoplankton , organic matter , environmental chemistry , particulates , carbon dioxide , environmental science , pelagic zone , total organic carbon , sink (geography) , dissolved organic carbon , carbon cycle , oceanography , photosynthesis , new production , biogeochemical cycle , chemistry , ecology , nutrient , ecosystem , geology , biology , biochemistry , cartography , geography
The ocean is a substantial sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) released as a result of human activities. Over the coming decades the dissolved inorganic C concentration in the surface ocean is predicted to increase, which is expected to have a direct influence on the efficiency of C utilization (consumption and production) by phytoplankton during photosynthesis. Here we evaluated the generality of C‐rich organic matter production by examining the elemental C:N ratio of organic matter produced under conditions of varying pCO 2 . The data used in this analysis were obtained from a series of pelagic in situ pCO 2 perturbation studies that were performed in the diverse ocean regions and involved natural phytoplankton assemblages. The C:N ratio of the resulting particulate and dissolved organic matter did not differ across the range of pCO 2 conditions tested. In particular, the ratio for particulate organic C and N was found to be 6.58 ± 0.05, close to the theoretical value of 6.6.