Schematic representation of the ocean carbon cycle depicting the role of marine diatoms in the biological carbon pump. The anthropogenic CO2 emission to the atmosphere (mainly generated by fossil fuel burning and deforestation) is nearly 11 Gigaton carbon (GtC) per year, of which almost 2.5 GtC is taken up by the surface ocean. In surface seawater (pH 8.1–8.4), bicarbonate (HCO3–) and carbonate ions (CO32–) constitute nearly 90 and <10% of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) respectively, while dissolved CO2 (CO2 aqueous) contributes <1%. Despite this low level of CO2 in the ocean and its slow diffusion rate in water, diatoms fix 10–20 GtC annually via photosynthesis thanks to their carbon dioxide concentration mechanisms (CCMs), allowing them to sustain food chains. In addition, 0.1–1% of this organic material produced in the euphotic layer sinks down as particles, thus transferring the surface carbon toward the deep ocean and sequestering atmospheric CO2 for thousands of years or longer. The remaining organic matter is remineralized through respiration. Thus, diatoms are one of the main players in this biological carbon pump, which is arguably the most important biological mechanism in the Earth System allowing CO2 to be removed from the carbon cycle for very long period. Based on data from Friedlingstein et al., 2020.

• Friedlingstein, P., O’Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Hauck, J., Olsen, A., et al. (2020). Global carbon budget 2020. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 12, 3269–3340.