What is "biological pump"

n. (context earth science English) The collection of biological ocean processes that regulate the uptake, storage, and release of carbon.

The biological pump, in its simplest form, is the ocean’s biologically driven sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep sea. It is the part of the oceanic carbon cycle responsible for the cycling of organic matter formed by phytoplankton during photosynthesis (soft-tissue pump), as well as the cycling of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) formed by certain plankton and mollusks as a protective coating (carbonate pump).