Unifying framework reveals importance of dissolved fluxes in ocean biological carbon pump

Unifying framework reveals importance of dissolved fluxes in ocean biological carbon pump | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Unifying framework reveals importance of dissolved fluxes in ocean biological carbon pump Mathieu Poupon, Laure Resplandy, Jessica Luo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6666218/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The ocean biological carbon pump sequesters carbon from the atmosphere through diverse pathways, including gravitational settling, physical transport, and organism vertical migration. However, robust assessments of its magnitude remain challenging. Traditional approaches treat individual pathways separately, risking double counting fluxes when combining estimates, fail to capture the full range of spatio-temporal scales involved (from kilometers to thousands, hours to years), and focus on particulate carbon while overlooking dissolved fluxes. Here, we apply a unified framework quantifying all pathways simultaneously to a high-resolution (3 km) idealized model of the North Atlantic resolving seasonal, physical, and biological dynamics across scales, from regional biomes to fine-scale fronts. We show that carbon sequestration is dominated by the gravitational pump (~ 70%), followed by physical (17–25%) and migrant (5–10%) pumps. Remarkably, carbon sequestration by the physical and migrant pumps is driven by dissolved fluxes—dissolved organic carbon transport and zooplankton respiration—which together account for over 20% of biological pump sequestration. Our findings underscore how unresolved dissolved fluxes and spatio-temporal variability —particularly physical pump fine-scale variability— can bias current estimates of the biological carbon pump, and call for a paradigm shift toward integrative approaches combining next-generation observations with process-resolving models. Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine chemistry Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Marine biology Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Carbon cycle Biological carbon pump Dissolved fluxes Ocean carbon cycle Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6666218","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":458875611,"identity":"9744a504-1f9f-4700-ae8f-1e5501f8f814","order_by":0,"name":"Mathieu Poupon","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADOQYGxgY4T4IYLcZQLQbEa0mEWkGEFt3ZzcekCyrupG+XPtz24EfFHzlzBuaDt3nwaDG7cyxNesaZZ7k7+xLbDXvOGBhbNrAlW+PVciPHTJq37XDuhjOMbdKMbQaJGw7wmEkToyXdAKzlH0gL/zeitCRAtDSAbWHDr+XOsWTrGWcOG+7sYWyT7DlmbGxwmM3Ycg4+LbebD94uqDgsb87D/kziR42cnMHx5oc33uDRAooCZhBtABdhxqccu5ZRMApGwSgYBWgAAAQMSg7y6uNxAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8136-4011","institution":"Princeton University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mathieu","middleName":"","lastName":"Poupon","suffix":""},{"id":458875612,"identity":"dac04aa7-3a13-4d21-a884-2bc206c31b25","order_by":1,"name":"Laure Resplandy","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1212-3943","institution":"Princeton University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Laure","middleName":"","lastName":"Resplandy","suffix":""},{"id":458875613,"identity":"3411c956-59c9-47de-9801-7c8cf090506f","order_by":2,"name":"Jessica Luo","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0032-9370","institution":"NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jessica","middleName":"","lastName":"Luo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-14 17:00:39","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6666218/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6666218/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103503887,"identity":"f2df4c07-519b-482f-892b-2ca6a1f9e6f5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-26 13:04:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1549053,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"PouponetalNatureGeoscience.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6666218/v1_covered_c182257b-2ddc-4699-b9e6-65a2187c9f77.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Unifying framework reveals importance of dissolved fluxes in ocean biological carbon pump","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Biological carbon pump, Dissolved fluxes, Ocean carbon cycle","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6666218/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6666218/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The ocean biological carbon pump sequesters carbon from the atmosphere through diverse pathways, including gravitational settling, physical transport, and organism vertical migration. 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