OB018
Marine snow across spatial and temporal scales: insights into the biological, chemical, and physical mechanisms that govern its formation and fate
Marine snow across spatial and temporal scales: insights into the biological, chemical, and physical mechanisms that govern its formation and fate
Session ID#: 257972
Session Description:
Marine aggregates play a critical role in marine elemental cycles and the ocean's biological pump. Their sedimentation is a major pathway for the transfer of carbon from the upper ocean to deeper layers. However, the mechanisms governing marine snow are poorly understood due to the complexity of the many biological, chemical, and physical factors governing their formation and fate. These processes are multifaceted and range across scientific disciplines and spatial and temporal scales. They include everything from primary production, viral infection, aggregation and fragmentation, and consumption and decomposition, among many others. Recent interdisciplinary field investigations, technological advances in in-situ observations, and targeted experiments have shed new light on the processes governing marine snow formation and its transport in the ocean. Still, much remains to be learned in this highly dynamic, variable, and interdisciplinary topic, in particular the dynamic and coupled phytoplankton-pathogen-particle-predator linkages. This session welcomes submissions of observational, computational, or experimental studies that explore biological, chemical, or physical processes related to marine snow at all scales. In particular, we invite talks that investigate mechanistic controls on particle export, ranging from laboratory to field investigations across ocean biology, chemistry, and physics.
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Carbon Management -
- Ocean Technologies and Observatories -
- Physical-Biological Interactions -
Index Terms:
0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
0428 Carbon cycling [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
4855 Phytoplankton [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL]
4863 Sedimentation [OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL]
Primary Chair: Matthew Rau, George Washington University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Washington, United States
Co-chairs: Benedict Borer, Rutgers University, Marine and Coastal Sciences, New Brunswick, United States and Kay D Bidle, Rutgers University, Marine and Coastal Sciences, New Brunswick, United States
See more of: Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry