Larger particles get stuck to the outside of these filters, and after some amount of time the filters get plugged and the animal moves out. The house deflates and begins to sink, picking up more particles. It?s a fast-sinking carbon bomb. |
We have 10 years of data on sinkers, and using average figures from those years, we can account for twice as much carbon than sediment traps can measure below 1,000 meters. |
We just don?t have a tank that?s been designed well enough to observe the process. We do know that they build very rapidly for a short while, and they probably go through about one house a day. |