École Nationale Supérieure de
Techniques Avancées

Abstract

The flux of particulate organic matter constitutes one of the major processes governing the sequestration of carbon in the deep oceans. The physical characteristics of these particles such as their size, their density and their porosity influence their sinking speed and therefore the flux of carbon. Aggregation and fragmentation of these particles are amongst the most important processes which influence these characteristics. We study here a way of modelling these processes depending on the size and the density of the POM. After an explanation on the theoretical aspect of the problem, we will show how aggregation and fragmentation work in different case scenarios using a Matlab simulation.