Oceans' microscopic plants -- diatoms -- capture carbon dioxide via biophysical pathways

(Frontiers) A first-of-its-kind study suggests that microscopic seawater plants, called diatoms, initially capture carbon dioxide (CO2) by biophysical, rather than biochemical, processes. Diatoms remove as much CO2 as all of the world's forests combined and it's vital to understand how this process will respond to rising CO2 levels. This study presents initial evidence about precisely which mechanisms diatoms use in natural oceanic conditions -- and how sensitive they might be to changing ocean ...