Lead institution:
NERC British Antarctic Survey – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK)
BIOPOLE will address a fundamental aspect of the Earth System; how nutrients in polar waters drive global carbon (C) cycling and primary productivity.
Ocean ecosystems absorb atmospheric CO2, mitigating large amounts of manmade C. However, this part of the global C cycle relies on an adequate supply of nutrients, primarily from the polar regions. BIOPOLE will improve our ability to quantify this export and determine its sensitivity to climate change by addressing three major questions:
- 1 – What physical, chemical and biological processes modify nutrient balance en route from source to polar ocean ecosystems, and how sensitive are they to climate change?
- 2 – What influences do ecosystem processes have on nutrient balance and movement of C to depth in polar oceans, and how may this change in the future?
- 3 – How may movement of C to depth and export of nutrients change in the future, and what impacts will this have on global ocean fish stocks and global C cycling?
This Project is hosted by the Ocean Decade Programme Joint Exploration of the Twilight Zone Ocean Network (JETZON)
Start Date: 01/04/2022
End Date: 01/03/2027
Contact point: Geraint Tarling – gant@bas.ac.uk