Carbon and the Elements of Life: Integrated Observing and Modeling of Marine Biological Carbon Cycles
Abstract
The global ocean acts as a massive reservoir for carbon dioxide, establishing ocean biogeochemistry as a primary driver of global carbon distributions [1-3]. This dynamic system is mediated by living organisms that cycle carbon and other elements through the ocean interior and air-sea interface, and is already being altered by warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and shifting nutrient supply [4]. Predicting how this role and ocean life will respond is a central unresolved challenge for Earth system science. This white paper presents the science case and a phased, multi-platform observing and modeling strategy for the Climate and the Elements of Life grand challenge, following NASA's Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry (OBB) Research Program science vision [5]. We recommend: (1) sustained hyperspectral and polarimetric ocean color resolving the mesoscale; (2) an ocean-optimized profiling lidar for subsurface elemental cycling and physiological state; (3) continued geostationary and, eventually, Lagrange-point observations; (4) an expanded autonomous and ship-based in situ network; and (5) mass-conserving biogeochemical models and assimilation fusing these into predictive estimates of carbon cycling and air-sea exchange. Together, these elements would give the nation the capability to track how the ocean's biological regulation of global biogeochemical pathways is changing and to responsibly evaluate proposed ocean-based carbon management strategies before they are deployed at scale.
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BibTeX
@misc{craig2026carbon,
title = {{Carbon and the Elements of Life: Integrated Observing and Modeling of Marine Biological Carbon Cycles}},
author = {Susanne Elizabeth Craig and Joaquim Goes and Hannah Joy-Warren and Catherine Mitchell and Maria Tzortziou},
howpublished = {EarthArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31223/x5gn6k},
url = {https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15204/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Carbon and the Elements of Life: Integrated Observing and Modeling of Marine Biological Carbon Cycles
AU - Susanne Elizabeth Craig
AU - Joaquim Goes
AU - Hannah Joy-Warren
AU - Catherine Mitchell
AU - Maria Tzortziou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
PB - EarthArXiv
DO - 10.31223/x5gn6k
UR - https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15204/
AB - The global ocean acts as a massive reservoir for carbon dioxide, establishing ocean biogeochemistry as a primary driver of global carbon distributions [1-3]. This dynamic system is mediated by living organisms that cycle carbon and other elements through the ocean interior and air-sea interface, and is already being altered by warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and shifting nutrient supply [4]. Predicting how this role and ocean life will respond is a central unresolved challenge for Earth system science. This white paper presents the science case and a phased, multi-platform observing and modeling strategy for the Climate and the Elements of Life grand challenge, following NASA's Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry (OBB) Research Program science vision [5]. We recommend: (1) sustained hyperspectral and polarimetric ocean color resolving the mesoscale; (2) an ocean-optimized profiling lidar for subsurface elemental cycling and physiological state; (3) continued geostationary and, eventually, Lagrange-point observations; (4) an expanded autonomous and ship-based in situ network; and (5) mass-conserving biogeochemical models and assimilation fusing these into predictive estimates of carbon cycling and air-sea exchange. Together, these elements would give the nation the capability to track how the ocean's biological regulation of global biogeochemical pathways is changing and to responsibly evaluate proposed ocean-based carbon management strategies before they are deployed at scale.
ER -