Patent ID: 8882552

Claim:
An apparatus for validating continuous sequestration of carbon below the 100-Year Horizon of an ocean and issuing a monetizable or tradeable carbon sequestration certificate having a denomination based on the mass of carbon sequestered therebelow, which comprises: a) a spar buoy or network of spar buoys disposed on the surface of an open ocean, each spar buoy comprising a vertically elongate hollow body having a top end with superstructure and a bottom end with ballast mass, said hollow body having an upper fixed displacement volume (V 1 ) and a lower variable displacement volume (V 2 ); b) a horizontally disposed spaceframe immersedly suspended from said spar buoy or network of spar buoys; c) an immersed analytical apparatus mounted on said spaceframe for measuring sedimentary deadfall as an index of flux of sequestered carbon descending below the 100-Year Horizon of said ocean; d) a surface boom for enclosing a surface area of said ocean associated with said spar buoy or network of spar buoys; e) a pump mounted in said spar buoy, said pump having a fluidic connection for drawing nutrient-rich water from below the photic zone of an ocean and discharging said nutrient-rich water from said top end onto or proximate to the surface thereof; and, f) a computer-implemented system operatively connected to said analytical apparatus and configured for integrating and reporting electronically a flux of sequestered carbon descending below the 100-Year Horizon per unit time or issuing one or more monetizable or tradable carbon sequestration certificates, wherein each certificate has a denomination equivalent to a validated amount of sequestered carbon as CO 2 in the sedimentary deadfall descended from said enclosed surface area to below the 100-Year Horizon of said ocean.