<p>This probably doesn't answer your question but might help the thought process:  </p>

<p>The part of the carbon cycle you are inquiring about is referred to as the biological carbon pump.<br>
Phytoplankton total net primary productivity is estimated to be ca. 45 to 50x10<sup>15</sup>g of (fixed) Carbon per year (<strong>Falkowski et al. 1998</strong>). In comparison land plants are producing an estimated 50 to 60x10<sup>15</sup>g of (fixed) Carbon per year (<strong>Field et al. 1998</strong>), hence a roughly 50-50% situation.</p>

<p>Of course not all of it is being buried: some is being recycled by heterotrophs and some decomposed (and thus released). </p>

<p>As far as the zooplankton and zoonekton (fishes, marine mammals, swimming molluscs and arthropods,...) are concerned, although I do not have numbers to back this claim, I would assume their impact on the carbon cycle to be (necessarily) smaller than that of the phytoplankton (since the carbon they are exporting comes, ultimately, from recycling the phytoplankton).</p>

<p><sub><sub>Source:<br>
Falkowski, P. G., Barber, R. T., Smetacek, V., 1998. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.281.5374.200" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Biogeochemical Controls and Feedbacks on Ocean Primary Production.</a> Science, 281: 200-207.<br>
Field, C. B., Behrenfield, M. J., Randerson, J. T., Falkowski, P., 1998. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.281.5374.237" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Primary Production of the Biosphere: Integrating Terrestrial and Oceanic Components.</a> Science, 281: 237-240.
</sub></sub></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T14:15:17.393Z
2017-09-19T08:09:54.680Z
2017-09-19T08:09:54.680Z
plannapus
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow" rel="noreferrer">Marine snow</a> in the deep ocean is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column.  How much carbon is sequestered in this process? How does it compare with the amount of carbon sequestered through plants?</p>

<p>I'm also curious: what percent of this carbon sequestration comes from plankton and what percent from fish? Do seabirds reduce this carbon sequestration? What about marine mammals?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-15T21:05:02.890Z
Those are many questions, you could ask them separately.  Meanwhile, read up on the [carbon cycle in IPCC AR5 chapter 6](http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/report/WG1AR5_Chapter06_FINAL.pdf) (PDF).
gerrit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-15T21:18:39.423Z
Okay I've removed one of the questions. The other questions are small and I think they help explain the main one.
InquilineKea
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T15:07:46.507Z
How do you define "marine snow"?
Peter Jansson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T19:51:34.747Z
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow
InquilineKea
<climate><carbon-cycle>
How much carbon is sequestered out of the atmosphere through marine snow?
InquilineKea
# How much carbon is sequestered out of the atmosphere through marine snow?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-04-15)

[Marine snow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow) in the deep ocean is a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column. How much carbon is sequestered in this process? How does it compare with the amount of carbon sequestered through plants?

I'm also curious: what percent of this carbon sequestration comes from plankton and what percent from fish? Do seabirds reduce this carbon sequestration? What about marine mammals?

**Tags:** climate, carbon-cycle

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Those are many questions, you could ask them separately.  Meanwhile, read up on the [carbon cycle in IPCC AR5 chapter 6](http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/report/WG1AR5_Chapter06_FINAL.pdf) (PDF).  
> **username_0**: Okay I've removed one of the questions. The other questions are small and I think they help explain the main one.  
> **username_2**: How do you define "marine snow"?  
> **username_0**: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_snow  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-04-16. Score: 6

This probably doesn't answer your question but might help the thought process:

The part of the carbon cycle you are inquiring about is referred to as the biological carbon pump.  
Phytoplankton total net primary productivity is estimated to be ca. 45 to 50x1015g of (fixed) Carbon per year (**Falkowski et al. 1998**). In comparison land plants are producing an estimated 50 to 60x1015g of (fixed) Carbon per year (**Field et al. 1998**), hence a roughly 50-50% situation.

Of course not all of it is being buried: some is being recycled by heterotrophs and some decomposed (and thus released).

As far as the zooplankton and zoonekton (fishes, marine mammals, swimming molluscs and arthropods,...) are concerned, although I do not have numbers to back this claim, I would assume their impact on the carbon cycle to be (necessarily) smaller than that of the phytoplankton (since the carbon they are exporting comes, ultimately, from recycling the phytoplankton).

Source:  
Falkowski, P. G., Barber, R. T., Smetacek, V., 1998. [Biogeochemical Controls and Feedbacks on Ocean Primary Production.](http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.281.5374.200) Science, 281: 200-207.  
Field, C. B., Behrenfield, M. J., Randerson, J. T., Falkowski, P., 1998. [Primary Production of the Biosphere: Integrating Terrestrial and Oceanic Components.](http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.281.5374.237) Science, 281: 237-240.


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