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Project title

Biological Carbon Export in the Labrador Sea (BELAS)

Primary Funding Agency

Marine Institute

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

Lead Organisation

University of Galway (UG)

Lead Applicant

Not listed

Project Abstract

Phytoplankton living in the sunlit surface ocean take up CO2 and nutrients and produce organic carbon. Some of this organic carbon leaves the surface ocean and sinks to greater depth via a set of processes collectively called the Biological Carbon Pump (BCP). The BCP plays a critical role in global climate regulation. Current estimates suggest that the BCP removes 5-12 Gt C from the atmosphere per year, roughly equal to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. By transferring carbon into the deeper ocean, the BCP effectively removes CO2 from the atmosphere for centuries. However, there is mounting evidence that climate warming is affecting the BCP, especially in higher latitudes, via increasing freshwater inputs, altered nutrient dynamics, and declines in phytoplankton growth. Our current ability to predict changes in the BCP in the face of ongoing and future climate change is weak. In the Labrador Sea, where deep mixing is crucial for the ventilation of the global subsurface ocean, the annual replenishment of surface nutrients results in globally important levels of phytoplankton growth. However, rapid changes are thought to be occurring in this region, and there are very few assessments of the BCP. Building on a recent successful international research expedition, we propose to assess the functioning of the BCP in the Labrador Sea and improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind it so that we can make better predictions about the BCP in the face of climate change. Our international, collaborative, interdisciplinary team will use tried and true methods to measure BCP processes and leverage these to develop new methods, based on ocean sensors and gene expression, to understand the BCP. Given the current sociopolitical interest in understanding, quantifying, and modifying ocean carbon sinks, there is a pressing need to advance our knowledge of the BCP in this critical, sensitive ocean region.

Grant Approved

�473,000.00

Research Hub

Climate Change

Research Theme

1. Carbon Stocks, GHG Emissions, Sinks and Management Options

Start Date

01/05/2024

Initial Projected Completion Date

07/06/2024