PARTITRICS

Project Overview

Particulate organic carbon (POC) export from the surface ocean represents a critical pathway for atmospheric CO2 sequestration, yet the efficiency of this biological carbon pump varies dramatically across ocean regions and remains poorly constrained. PARTITRICS investigates how particle transformation processes—aggregation, disaggregation, fragmentation, and microbial respiration—regulate the fraction of surface production that reaches the deep ocean.

The project combines autonomous platform observations with advanced particle imaging, genomic approaches, and biogeochemical modeling to quantify particle dynamics through the twilight zone. Work Package 1, which I lead, focuses on observing particle size distributions, sinking rates, and associated biogeochemical transformations using glider-based optical sensors and water sampling.

By constraining the processes governing particle fate in the mesopelagic, PARTITRICS aims to reduce uncertainty in ocean carbon storage estimates and improve predictions of how the biological pump will respond to environmental change.