20.500.12556/DiRROS-28595 Dynamic sinking and surface-area based decay modeling reduce estimates of gelatinous zooplankton-mediated carbon export to the Deep Sea Gelatinous zooplankton (GZ) have been proposed as a potentially important but largely overlooked contributor to the biological carbon pump. However, estimates of GZ-derived carbon transfer efficiency to the ocean floor reflect uncertainties in key parameters that govern carbon export, leading to contrasting interpretations of the role of GZ in the biological carbon pump. This study addresses key simplifications in previous models, that is, constant sinking speed and mass-depending decay, by introducing (a) vertical sinking dynamically coupled to GZ biomass loss due to microbial decay and (b) a novel surface-area-dependent formulation of GZ biomass degradation. Under these new assumptions, global GZ carbon exports and transfer efficiencies are recomputed, capturing processes not considered in earlier models. While global GZ export from the euphotic zone remains similar to previous estimates , accounting for of the total global particulate organic carbon (POC) export, introducing a sinking speed coupled to GZ biomass reduces GZ POC export to the seafloor by (to ). Adding the surface-area based decay reduces export to the seafloor by (to ). These results indicate that while GZ remains a major contributor to carbon export from the euphotic zone, earlier models overestimated GZ contribution to deep-ocean carbon sequestration. Our modeling assumptions are generic and transferable to other types of sinking and decaying particles and can be leveraged to improve estimates of POC export, thus advancing the understanding of the mechanical aspects of the biological carbon pump. želatinozni zooplankton biološka ogljična črpalka vertikalni ogljični tok numerično modeliranje true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2026-03-25 10:13:33 2026-03-25 10:13:33 2026-03-27 04:03:10 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Soavtoriji: M. Vodopivec, G. J. Herndl, T. Tinta, M. Ličer; Opis vira z dne 25. 3. 2026; str. 1-19 iss. 3, [article no.] e2025GB008937 Vol. 40 Mar. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-03-17 574 1944-9224 10.1029/2025GB008937 272940547 https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GB008937 1 e7083c84-282a-11f1-aa40-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=42467 RAZ_Perharic_Crtomir_2026.pdf RAZ_Perharic_Crtomir_2026.pdf 1 C834D1B8E3331A94B4460BDEE7157E7A 169d78b91378c322ea5514363a3396f5b531292ae486fd6abdce81dcf4a0a091 0010fb33-282b-11f1-aa40-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=42468 Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo 0 0 0