# Biomass Refined: 99% of Organic Carbon in Soils
## 1 Introduction
### Comparison of Land NPP Estimates & Mystique of Historical Marine NPP  
For NPP values noted above, seemingly all Ocean (over-)estimates (e.g., IPCC, ESSD, etc.) track back to table 6 in ref. [69] based \"_in part after [PERSON] (1954)_\" that was \"_too uncertain to allow any definite conclusions_\". Ref. [70] had NPP on land of just 20 \(\pm\) 5 Gt C/yr, saying these figures were too low as they failed to account for tropical rainforests(!). Ocean NPP was claimed to be six times greater at 126 \(\pm\) 82 Gt C/yr; he said was likely \"_an order of magnitude too high_\". These mystical, widely speculative NPP figures (126 vs. 20 GtC/yr for Ocean vs. Land) appear to originate from [71] itself tracking back to preliminary reports as early as [72]. Ref. [73] found Ocean NPP \"_incredible_\" and determined its NPP just \(\sim\)15 Gt C/yr. Whereas [74]--an oft quoted data source--had similar NPP contributions from terrestrial 56.4 Gt C/yr (53.8%) and oceanic 48.5 Gt C/yr (46.2%) components, their Ocean productivity was nearly halved in estimates made before 1970's satellite data. Land calculations for flat surfaces, properly doubled for terrain, would amount to \(\sim\)113 Gt C/yr. Alternatively, since NPP is now shown to be around 220 Gt C/yr, then a four-fold increase is warranted and may be justified. Moreover, ref. [74] cogently noted: \"_Because of the rapid turnover of oceanic plant biomass, even large increases in ocean NPP will not result in substantial carbon storage_\". Their average Land NPP was 426 g C/m\({}^{2}\)/yr, whereas Ocean almost a quarter of this at 140 g C/m\({}^{2}\)/yr (for flat surface areas!). In an earlier comprehensive study, table 5 in ref. [17] refined Ocean NPP to 30 Gt C/yr and Continental NPP to 86 Gt C/yr (which when doubled for terrain is 162 Gt C/yr). Later, table 5 in ref. [75] had marine NPP as 24.8 Gt C/yr and terrestrial just 52.8 Gt C/yr, whereas [43] gave marine production of 10 Gt C/yr compared to terrestrial NPP of 50 Gt C/yr, or five times greater. That land NPP is now much higher at \(\sim\)220 Gt C/yr as the current report demonstrates, is due mainly to new data for soil respiration plus terrain factors. Compared to this, there is little evidence for Ocean NPP much above 10-25 Gt C/yr supporting its total biomass of only around \(\sim\)3 Gt C, nor of any direct interaction between the Atmosphere and marine photosynthetic gas exchange. As [76] state: \"_The turnover time of water masses, which transport CO\({}_{2}\) into the deep sea in polar regions, where the CO\({}_{2}\) is released at lower latitudes, is of the order of a thousand years (650 year in the Atlantic to 2000 in the Pacific)_... Increased atmospheric CO\({}_{2}\) will only slightly affect the CO\({}_{2}\) level in the oceans, since the latter contain 55 times more CO\({}_{2}\) than the atmosphere. Thus there will be no feedback based on increased atmospheric CO\({}_{2}\), or at most very little)\". They add: \"_The average annual primary production of the world oceans of 30 gigatons carbon_\", but this may be too high. Rather than 30-50 Gt C/yr as claimed, reports above are of lower Ocean NPP of just 10-30 Gt C/yr and an oceanic DOC pool of only 0.2 Gt C. However, ref. [77], citing 660 Gt DOC in the Ocean, say: \"_With this fast turnover, the pool's contribution to carbon sequestration is inconsequential_\". Moreover, sea\(\leftrightarrow\)air gas exchanges are passive and instantaneous, governed by Henry's Law. Hence, Ocean overstated importance to global CO\({}_{2}\) or O\({}_{2}\) cycles, albeit highly speculative, are relatively minor. In figures 5,4b in ref. [33], terrestrial NPP is 114 Gt C/yr and air\(\leftrightarrow\)leaf flux \(-\)400-750 Gt C (i.e., \(\pm\)350 Gt C/yr) and, as they explain: \"_the gross ocean fluxes largely cancel out_\" (net: \(\sim\)\(\pm\)2.5 Gt C/yr). Hence, much promoted \"_Blue Carbon_\" climate proposals are unrealistic, impractical, speculative solutions that lack true grounding, as indeed [78] concur. Increasing evidence for higher Land vs.