Research summary
Ninety-seven per cent of the organic carbon in the ocean is dissolved organic matter—and it represents a considerable blue carbon sink. (A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases.) While some dissolved organic matter acts as a carbon sink, other matter is rapidly cycled back to CO2. But the chemistry and biology that drive the balance between these two fates are complex.
Dr. Heather Reader, Canada Research Chair in Chemistry of the Ocean and Atmosphere, is improving our understanding of the capacity of marine dissolved organic matter to serve as a blue carbon sink. She and her research team are looking for fingerprints of reactivity in dissolved organic matter and assessing hotspots of blue carbon storage in the ocean. Their findings could help promote better monitoring of shifts in marine ecosystems and improve our understanding of the role that oceans play in absorbing carbon.