Ocean storage of carbon dioxide ocean waters in order to increase carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake from the atmosphere, possibly resulting in mitigating its global warming effects. Iron is a trace element in ocean and its presence is vital for photosynthesis in plants, and in particular phytoplanktons, as It has been shown that iron deficiency can limit ocean productivity and phytoplankton growth. For this reason, “iron hypothesis” was put forward by Martin in late 1980s where he suggested that changes in iron supply in iron-deficient ocean-waters can bloom plankton growth and have a significant effect on the concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide by altering rates of
Ocean storage of carbon dioxide Earth's climate. This presents itself as a readily available carbon sink to store and capture atmospheric carbon dioxide. Due to the solubility of carbon dioxide in water, CO2 naturally dissolves in oceanic waters to form an equilibrium. With an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the position of equilibrium pushes the equilibrium in the direction such that more CO2 dissolves into the water. Utilizing this mechanism, more than 500 Gtons of carbon dioxide (amounting to a total of 140 Gtons of carbon) of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions released over the past 2 centuries have been absorbed