Editing Benthos (section)

==Carbon processing==
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File:Carbon processing in marine sediments.jpg
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Organic matter produced in the sunlit layer of the ocean and delivered to the sediments is either consumed by organisms or buried. The organic matter consumed by organisms is used to synthesize [[Biomass (ecology)|biomass]] (i.e. growth) converted to carbon dioxide through [[Respiration (physiology)|respiration]], or returned to the sediment as faeces. This cycle can occur many times before either all organic matter is used up or eventually buried. This process is known as the [[biological pump]].<ref>{{Citation |last1=Sigman |first1=D.M. |title=The Biological Pump in the Past |date=2003 |journal=Treatise on Geochemistry |pages=491–528 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b0-08-043751-6/06118-1 |access-date=2024-09-22 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-043751-4 |last2=Haug |first2=G.H.|volume=6 |doi=10.1016/b0-08-043751-6/06118-1 |bibcode=2003TrGeo...6..491S }}</ref><ref name="Middelburg2018">{{cite journal | last=Middelburg | first=Jack J. | title=Reviews and syntheses: to the bottom of carbon processing at the seafloor | journal=Biogeosciences | publisher=Copernicus GmbH | volume=15 | issue=2 | date=19 January 2018 | issn=1726-4189 | doi=10.5194/bg-15-413-2018 | pages=413–427| bibcode=2018BGeo...15..413M | doi-access=free }} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].</ref>

In the long-term or at steady-state, i.e., the biomass of benthic organisms does not change, the benthic community can be considered a black box diverting organic matter into either metabolites or the geosphere (burial).<ref name="Middelburg2018" /> The macrobenthos also indirectly impacts carbon cycling on the seafloor through [[bioturbation]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Ming-Yi |last2=Dai |first2=Jihong |date=2005-09-01 |title=Relative influences of bioturbation and physical mixing on degradation of bloom-derived particulate organic matter: Clue from microcosm experiments |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030442030500006X |journal=Marine Chemistry |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=201–218 |doi=10.1016/j.marchem.2004.11.003 |bibcode=2005MarCh..96..201S |issn=0304-4203}}</ref>