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The ocean absorbs carbon from the atmosphere through plankton networks, and deposits it deep into the water, according to scientists from The Ohio State University.

The Tara Oceans Expedition, conducted its experiments through three years and was run by 200 experts examining the sea to better understand its residents---whether they be animals or microbial beings.

"We're trying to understand, 'Does carbon in the surface ocean sink to the deep ocean and, if so, how?'" Matthew Sullivan, who participated in the research, said in a press release. "The reason that's important is the oceans help mitigate our carbon footprint on this planet."

With the help of advanced genetic sequencing techniques, the team could identify the clusters connected to oceanic carbon depositing. They captured phytoplankton that is responsible for the deposition of carbon to "safe" resting spots.

"It's the first community-wide look at what organisms are good predictors of how carbon moves in the ocean," Sullivan said.

They found that viruses are also important, especially those that infect cyanobacteria cells.

"What was really surprising was that only a handful - less than 10 out of more than 5,000 - viruses seem to be specifically linked to carbon export. This means that we can now go after these key players specifically and try to characterize their impact on the ecosystem," he said.

The findings were published in Feb. 10,2016 issue of Nature.