Kristen Wilson / Earth & Environmental Sciences / Faculty Mentor: Arne Winguth
The marine microbial loop is an important part of marine food webs that remineralize and recycle dis- solved organic matter (DOM) which is of importance to sequester carbon in the ocean. Notably, bacteria are important for the degradation of particulate organic carbon (POC) into dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which can be stored in the ocean depths for millennia, making them vital for simulating the marine carbon cycle. This study introduces a bacterial component into the Community Earth System Model (CESM) to improve the predictions of semi labile and refractory DOC concentrations, particularly below the twilight zone with implications for understanding how changes in ocean stratification, particle flux, and the ecosystem can alter the DOC cycle. Preliminary results indicate that CESM2.1.5 with DOC cycling with the microbial loop better fit the observations. Potential shifts in the microbial loop parameterization, microbial mortality, and substrate affinity to changes in temperature and ocean circulation due to the anthropogenic carbon emission, and implications of these changes for the reorganization of marine carbon storage will be explored.
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