Unveiling the enigma of refractory carbon in the ocean

• 来源期刊: 国家科学评论（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2018,（4）
• 页码范围: 459-463
• 页数: 5页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwy020

摘要

INTRODUCTION The ocean holds a tremendous reservoir of refractory dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) that plays an important role in carbon cycling and climate change [1].However,the origin of the RDOC has been an enigma for half a century.This perspective is to address why the enigma deserves scientific efforts and illustrate a robust scheme--the Microbial Carbon Pump (MCP)—to unveil the enigma from molecular to ecosystem levels.Through generation of intrinsic RDOC (RDOCt) under specific biotic and abiotic environmental conditions,as well as through derivation of diverse organic molecules at extremely low concentrations (RDOCc),the MCP links the seemingly contrary ‘intrinsic recalcitrance hypothesis' and ‘dilution hypothesis' together,and provides a framework for testable hypotheses linking microbial activities with the behavior of organic compounds for future studies regarding carbon sequestration in the ocean.