Role of pelagic calcification and export of carbonate production in climate change

Abstract

The marine carbon cycle constitutes a key component of the climate system. It has been shown that one-fourth of the anthropogenic CO2 emitted to the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, leading to the acidification of the surface ocean and the modification of seawater carbonate chemistry. This could have major impacts on the ocean biogeochemical carbon cycling and ecosystem dynamics. Yet, the resulting feedbacks on climate change are still poorly understood. Interdisciplinary biogeochemical investigations, assisted by remote sensing, have been conducted during three consecutive years along the shelf break of the Northern Bay of Biscay where coccolithophorid blooms dominated by Emiliania huxleyi are frequently and recurrently observed. Rates of various processes governing the coccolithophore ecosystem dynamics have been determined and air-sea CO2 fluxes evaluated. The key results will be presented and discussed to evaluate the role in climate regulation of calcification, primary production and export processes during coccolithophorid blooms

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