Venturing into the “Twilight Zone”: where does all the carbon go?

The study of the mesopelagic realms of the world ocean, and the North Pacific in particular, aims to concentrate at obtaining a novel knowledge on the structure and functioning of mesopelagic food-webs. In particular, this project intends to quantify the importance of the active carbon transport into mesopelagic zone mediated by macroplankton and micronekton. The research will be essential in predicting how the role of the mesopelagic zone will change in response to future increases in carbon dioxide levels and associated climatic and oceanographic variability.