Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean (SO) marine primary productivity (PP) is strongly influenced by the availability of iron in surface waters, which is thought to exert a significant control upon atmospheric CO 2 concentrations on glacial/interglacial timescales. The zone bordering the Antarctic Ice Sheet exhibits high...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c703c1acc4374a2a823e03e7f072ab3f 2023-05-15T13:54:36+02:00 Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean R. Death J. L. Wadham F. Monteiro A. M. Le Brocq M. Tranter A. Ridgwell S. Dutkiewicz R. Raiswell 2014-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2635-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c703c1acc4374a2a823e03e7f072ab3f EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/2635/2014/bg-11-2635-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-11-2635-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c703c1acc4374a2a823e03e7f072ab3f Biogeosciences, Vol 11, Iss 10, Pp 2635-2643 (2014) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2635-2014 2022-12-31T03:15:33Z Southern Ocean (SO) marine primary productivity (PP) is strongly influenced by the availability of iron in surface waters, which is thought to exert a significant control upon atmospheric CO 2 concentrations on glacial/interglacial timescales. The zone bordering the Antarctic Ice Sheet exhibits high PP and seasonal plankton blooms in response to light and variations in iron availability. The sources of iron stimulating elevated SO PP are in debate. Established contributors include dust, coastal sediments/upwelling, icebergs and sea ice. Subglacial meltwater exported at the ice margin is a more recent suggestion, arising from intense iron cycling beneath the ice sheet. Icebergs and subglacial meltwater may supply a large amount of bioavailable iron to the SO, estimated in this study at 0.07–0.2 Tg yr −1 . Here we apply the MIT global ocean model (Follows et al., 2007) to determine the potential impact of this level of iron export from the ice sheet upon SO PP. The export of iron from the ice sheet raises modelled SO PP by up to 40%, and provides one plausible explanation for seasonally very high in situ measurements of PP in the near-coastal zone. The impact on SO PP is greatest in coastal regions, which are also areas of high measured marine PP. These results suggest that the export of Antarctic runoff and icebergs may have an important impact on SO PP and should be included in future biogeochemical modelling. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Iceberg* Sea ice Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Biogeosciences 11 10 2635 2643 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 R. Death J. L. Wadham F. Monteiro A. M. Le Brocq M. Tranter A. Ridgwell S. Dutkiewicz R. Raiswell Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Southern Ocean (SO) marine primary productivity (PP) is strongly influenced by the availability of iron in surface waters, which is thought to exert a significant control upon atmospheric CO 2 concentrations on glacial/interglacial timescales. The zone bordering the Antarctic Ice Sheet exhibits high PP and seasonal plankton blooms in response to light and variations in iron availability. The sources of iron stimulating elevated SO PP are in debate. Established contributors include dust, coastal sediments/upwelling, icebergs and sea ice. Subglacial meltwater exported at the ice margin is a more recent suggestion, arising from intense iron cycling beneath the ice sheet. Icebergs and subglacial meltwater may supply a large amount of bioavailable iron to the SO, estimated in this study at 0.07–0.2 Tg yr −1 . Here we apply the MIT global ocean model (Follows et al., 2007) to determine the potential impact of this level of iron export from the ice sheet upon SO PP. The export of iron from the ice sheet raises modelled SO PP by up to 40%, and provides one plausible explanation for seasonally very high in situ measurements of PP in the near-coastal zone. The impact on SO PP is greatest in coastal regions, which are also areas of high measured marine PP. These results suggest that the export of Antarctic runoff and icebergs may have an important impact on SO PP and should be included in future biogeochemical modelling. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
R. Death J. L. Wadham F. Monteiro A. M. Le Brocq M. Tranter A. Ridgwell S. Dutkiewicz R. Raiswell |
author_facet |
R. Death J. L. Wadham F. Monteiro A. M. Le Brocq M. Tranter A. Ridgwell S. Dutkiewicz R. Raiswell |
author_sort |
R. Death |
title |
Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic ice sheet fertilises the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
antarctic ice sheet fertilises the southern ocean |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2635-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c703c1acc4374a2a823e03e7f072ab3f |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Iceberg* Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ice Sheet Iceberg* Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 11, Iss 10, Pp 2635-2643 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/2635/2014/bg-11-2635-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-11-2635-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c703c1acc4374a2a823e03e7f072ab3f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2635-2014 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
2635 |
op_container_end_page |
2643 |
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1766260581062410240 |