Tiny carbon-stealing organisms bloom in the Black Sea

Nicola Guttridge, contributor

(Image: Image: NASA/Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Web)

The Black Sea ain't so black after all. This image, captured by NASA's Aqua satellite, shows it in vibrant shades of cyan, turquoise and blue. The swirling patterns on the surface of the water are caused by blooms of microscopic plankton known as coccolithophores.

These little single-celled organisms suck carbon from the atmosphere, combining it with calcium and oxygen to form little plates of calcium carbonate known as coccoliths. Something akin to limestone bodysuits, they resemble floating hubcaps. When they die, they slowly sink to the ocean floor, eventually being consumed and excreted by other sea life.

In this way, coccolithophores play a vital role in the ocean's "biological pump". This is a part of the carbon cycle that transfers carbon from the air into the ocean depths. Microscopic sea organisms such as coccolithophores speed this up, lowering the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as they calcify and sink into the sediment.

However, the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in our air could disturb this pump. As more carbon dioxide enters the sea it increases the acidity of the water. These adjusted water conditions may affect the ability of the coccolithophores to grow and calcify.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/21e78212/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A120C0A70Ctiny0Ecarbon0Estealing0Eorganisms0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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