25 March 2025/Kiel. How is organic matter transported from productive coastal areas to the open ocean? Researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and MARUM – Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now shown that eddies play a crucial role in this process. The swirling currents contain large amounts of energy-rich and essential fat molecules (essential lipids), which play a key role in marine food webs and the carbon cycle. The study has now been published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.