Carbonate pump
Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, defines the carbonate pump as: ‘Ocean carbon fixation through the biological formation of carbonates, primarily by plankton that generate bio-mineral particles that sink to the ocean interior, and possibly the sediment. It is also called carbonate counter-pump, since the formation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is accompanied by the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) to surrounding water and subsequently to the atmosphere.’
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