Diurnal vertical migration in the Southern Ocean: Importance to carbon sequestration and impacts from future oceanic warming

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Project Background: The daily migration of mesopelagic species from deeper waters they occupy during the day, to the surface waters during the night, is the most important mass movement event that takes place on Earth. The migration transports a vast biomass of carbon from the surface waters to the ocean depths and is a key component of marine biological carbon pump (the migration is responsible for an estimated ~32% of total oceanic carbon sequestration). Despite this importance, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the species involved in the daily migration, the factors that determine the extent of migration, and the vulnerability of this pathway of carbon sequestration climate warming. This project aims to resolve the extent of carbon transport by mesopelagic species of the Southern Ocean and how this critical process will be affected by future climatic warming.