Articles | Volume 18, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-437-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-437-2022
Research article
 | 
31 Mar 2022
Research article |  | 31 Mar 2022

There and back again, a journey of many pathways: conceptualising the marine organic carbon cycle

Maike Iris Esther Scheffold and Inga Hense

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Cited articles

Anderson, T. R. and Ducklow, H. W.: Microbial loop carbon cycling in ocean environments studied using a simple steady-state model, Aquat. Microb. Ecol., 26, 37–49, https://doi.org/10.3354/ame026037, 2001. a
Arrieta, J. M., Mayol, E., Hansman, R. L., Herndl, G. J., Dittmar, T., and Duarte, C. M.: Ocean chemistry. Dilution limits dissolved organic carbon utilization in the deep ocean, Science, 348, 331–333, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1258955, 2015. a
Azam, F. and Malfatti, F.: Microbial structuring of marine ecosystems, Nature reviews, Microbiology, 5, 782–791, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1747, 2007. a
Azam, F., Smith, D. C., Steward, G. F., and Hagström, A.: Bacteria-organic matter coupling and its significance for oceanic carbon cycling, Microb. Ecol., 28, 167–179, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00166806, 1994. a
Baker, C. A., Henson, S. A., Cavan, E. L., Giering, S. L. C., Yool, A., Gehlen, M., Belcher, A., Riley, J. S., Smith, H. E. K., and Sanders, R.: Slow-sinking particulate organic carbon in the Atlantic Ocean: Magnitude, flux, and potential controls, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 31, 1051–1065, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GB005638, 2017. a
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Short summary
Organic carbon in the oceans can take various paths: it may e.g. sink to the sediment, be eaten, or be recycled to start all over again. Where carbon ends up for how long has implications for atmospheric CO2 concentrations and our climate. To assess which pathways exist and how they are structured, we introduce a qualitative concept of organic carbon pathways. This concept helps to identify pathways, compare ecosystems, and assess how human actions and environmental changes alter pathways.