Biogel scavenging slows the sinking of organic particles to the ocean depths

Uria Alcolombri (), Alon Nissan, Jonasz Słomka, Sam Charlton, Eleonora Secchi, Isobel Short, Kang Soo Lee, François J. Peaudecerf, Dieter A. Baumgartner, Andreas Sichert, Uwe Sauer, Anupam Sengupta and Roman Stocker ()
Additional contact information
Uria Alcolombri: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Alon Nissan: Food and Environment. Department of Soil and Water Sciences. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jonasz Słomka: ETH Zurich
Sam Charlton: ETH Zurich
Eleonora Secchi: ETH Zurich
Isobel Short: ETH Zurich
Kang Soo Lee: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)
François J. Peaudecerf: IPR (Institut de Physique de Rennes) - UMR 6251
Dieter A. Baumgartner: ETH Zurich
Andreas Sichert: ETH Zurich
Uwe Sauer: ETH Zurich
Anupam Sengupta: University of Luxembourg
Roman Stocker: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract One of Earth’s largest carbon fluxes is driven by particles made from photosynthetically fixed matter, which aggregate and sink into the deep ocean. While biodegradation is known to reduce this vertical flux, the biophysical processes that control particle sinking speed are not well understood. Here, we use a vertical millifluidic column to video-track single particles and find that biogels scavenged by particles during sinking significantly reduce the particles’ sinking speed, slowing them by up to 45% within one day. Combining observations with a mathematical model, we determine that the mechanism for this slowdown is a combination of increased drag due to the formation of biogel tendrils and increased buoyancy due to the biogel’s low density. Because biogels are pervasive in the ocean, we propose that by slowing the sinking of organic particles they attenuate the vertical carbon flux in the ocean.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57982-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57982-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57982-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().