Solubility pump

Air-sea exchange of CO2

In oceanic biogeochemistry, the solubility pump is a physicochemical process that transports carbon as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the ocean's surface to its interior. The solubility pump can be influenced by several environmental and biotic factors, which can enhance or reduce the strength of the solubility pump and the solubility of carbon dioxide in the ocean.

The solubility pump can act as a sink for carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by anthropogenic activities. Though most of the carbon dioxide released via anthropogenic activities will dissolve in the ocean eventually, the exact rate that this will occur is unknown. Increased warming of the ocean due to climate change, as well as slowed thermohaline circulation in the ocean, can reduce to amount of carbon dioxide taken up from the atmosphere into the ocean. Additionally, increased uptake of carbon dioxide in the ocean leads to ocean acidification, which can be problematic for marine life.

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