Recently, the results of the 2023 Top Ten Scientific and Technological Advances in Oceanology and Limnology in China were announced. The scientific research entitled "Breakthrough in the Estimation of the Global Marine Biological Carbon Pump" conducted by the team of Prof. Wei-Lei Wang from the College of Ocean and Earth Sciences and the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University was successfully selected.
Marine biological carbon pump is a crucial component of the ocean’s carbon sink processes, playing a vital role in mitigating climate change by sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, accurately estimating the strength of the biological carbon pump has been a major challenge for climate science and earth science research. Prof. Wei-Lei Wang's team has independently developed a biogeochemical inverse model that couples the cycling of carbon, phosphorus and oxygen. The model establishes an inverse relationship between the biological carbon pump and key parameters such as dissolved inorganic phosphorus, dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, oxygen, and dissolved organic carbon. Using this approach, Prof. Wang’s team has made a reliable assessment of the global distribution pattern of the biological carbon pump. Their findings reveal the important influence of advection and diffusion processes on organic carbon export, reconciling the contradiction between total carbon export and the carbon demand of deep-ocean respiration. Moreover, the work presents, for the first time, the temporal distribution of the biological carbon pump, demonstrating that the organic carbon flux is primarily dominated by fractions with shorter residence times. This discovering indicats that most of the organic matter production cycles rapidly within the surface ocean. These insights lay a solid foundation for further research and advancements in oceanic carbon cycle science and the development of climate change mitigation strategies. The research work has been published in Nature in 2023.
Principal Completer: Wei-Lei Wang, François Primeau, Wei-Wei Fu, Jin-Ming Tang
The selection of“Top Ten Scientific and Technological Advances in Oceanology and Limnology in China”is an annual event that has been held for 11 consecutive times since 2013. The event is organized by the Chinese Society for Oceanology and Limnology (CSOL). The nominations are made by branches of the CSOL, council members, and relevant institutions in the field of oceanology and limnology. The final selection is made through voting by the council members of the CSOL. The purpose of this event is to promote the widespread dissemination of research achievements in oceanology and limnology in China and to advance the development of these scientific fields.
