{"id":5199,"date":"2025-08-07T14:18:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T21:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/earth\/?p=5199"},"modified":"2025-08-13T14:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T21:39:08","slug":"can-the-seafloor-help-the-ocean-absorb-more-co2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/earth\/2025\/08\/07\/can-the-seafloor-help-the-ocean-absorb-more-co2\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the seafloor help the ocean absorb more CO2?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n \n Will Berelson\u2019s research team prepares to deploy the porewater sampler off the coast of Huntington Beach. The sampler is lowered to the seafloor, where spring-loaded syringes suck the water between grains of sand and mud through filters in quartz collection coils. (USC Photo\/Stephen Gee)\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Can the seafloor help the ocean absorb more CO2?<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n USC scientists are exploring how the sandy seafloor off the Southern California coast takes up CO2 and helps protect the long-term health of our oceans.\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n By<\/span>Nina Raffio<\/strong>\n \n August 7, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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The ocean plays a vital role in protecting the planet,\u00a0absorbing about 31% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released by human activity<\/a>, storing it in its waters and neutralizing some of it by reacting with sediments. This natural process has helped keep Earth\u2019s climate in balance for millennia, but it moves slowly, unfolding over thousands of years.<\/p>\n

Today, with carbon emissions rising far faster than the ocean can absorb them, scientists are\u00a0looking for ways<\/a>\u00a0to better understand \u2014 and potentially\u00a0enhance<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the ocean\u2019s natural ability to capture and store carbon.<\/p>\n

Just beyond the surf at Huntington Beach, a team of USC oceanographers is investigating the potential role of the sandy ocean floor in this process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe seafloor is actively involved in carbon cycling,\u201d said\u00a0Will Berelson<\/a>,\u00a0the Paxson H. Offield Professor in Coastal and Marine Systems at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the study\u2019s lead researcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this shallow area just offshore, where waves and currents are constantly stirring up the sandy bottom, we\u2019re seeing chemical reactions take place in the tiny pockets of water between grains of sand,\u201d he said. \u201cThose reactions might help the ocean store more carbon, and we\u2019re trying to find out how prevalent and effective is this natural process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Will
Will Berelson inspects a water sample collected off the coast of Huntington Beach. (USC Photo\/Stephen Gee)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Original article posted by Nina Raffio<\/a> on USC Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Berelson\u2019s research team prepares to deploy the porewater sampler off the coast of Huntington Beach. The sampler is lowered to the seafloor, where spring-loaded syringes suck the water between grains of sand and mud through filters in quartz collection coils. 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