NI - Dissolved Organic matter subduction and transport along the east Greenland MArgin (DOGMA)

At 2 petagrams of carbon per year, the downward export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from the ocean surface represents a large fraction (>15%) of the total carbon sequestration by the biological carbon pump. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is the main conduit by which DOC makes its way down to the deep ocean, sequestering carbon for centuries. This important carbon sink may be critically endangered if model predictions of future decline of the AMOC are correct. However, DOC measurements in the high-latitude North Atlantic are at present too scarce to understand how the AMOC-driven DOC carbon sink works, and how it may evolve in the future. Recent research by our team has further evidenced our limited understanding by suggesting that (1) the AMOC is impacted by small-scale processes occurring near the East Greenland margin, which are not captured by climate models; (2) these processes are responsible for the bulk of DOC sequestration; and (3) they respond in unexpected ways to climate change. The overarching goal of DOGMA is to prepare the ground for a future collaborative proposal to address this pressing problem. Specifically, DOGMA will (1) build an interdisciplinary team of world-leading experts to develop an ambitious research programme on the topic, and (2) leverage existing cruise opportunities in the Nordic Seas to perform a pilot study to reinforce and magnify our previous findings, allowing identification of critical areas of focus for the future proposal.