{"id":4597,"date":"2025-08-07T21:34:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T21:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/?p=4597"},"modified":"2025-08-11T21:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T21:37:20","slug":"carbon-storage-ocean-floor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/2025\/08\/07\/carbon-storage-ocean-floor\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a solution to excess CO2 hiding in the ocean floor?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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USC researchers in the waters off Huntington Beach. The group, all from Will Berelson’s USC lab, are studying whether the ocean floor can help absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (Photo: Stephen Gee\/USC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Is a solution to excess CO2 hiding in the ocean floor?<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \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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Original story by Nina Raffio<\/em><\/p>\n

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