The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency
Iron fertilization is explored by tracking dissolved iron (DFe) through its life cycle from injection by aeolian, sedimentary, and hydrothermal sources (birth) to burial in the sediments (death). We develop new diagnostic equations that count iron and phosphate regenerations with each passage throug...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e9ed1a984d4b431cafb4990df7455b55 2023-05-15T18:25:17+02:00 The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency B. Pasquier M. Holzer 2018-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7177-2018 https://doaj.org/article/e9ed1a984d4b431cafb4990df7455b55 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.biogeosciences.net/15/7177/2018/bg-15-7177-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-15-7177-2018 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/e9ed1a984d4b431cafb4990df7455b55 Biogeosciences, Vol 15, Pp 7177-7203 (2018) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7177-2018 2022-12-31T12:38:52Z Iron fertilization is explored by tracking dissolved iron (DFe) through its life cycle from injection by aeolian, sedimentary, and hydrothermal sources (birth) to burial in the sediments (death). We develop new diagnostic equations that count iron and phosphate regenerations with each passage through the biological pump and partition the ocean's DFe concentration according to the number of its past or future regenerations. We apply these diagnostics to a family of data-constrained estimates of the iron cycle with sources σ tot in the range 1.9–41 Gmol yr −1 . We find that for states with σ tot > 7 Gmol yr −1 , 50 % or more of the DFe inventory has not been regenerated in the past and 85 % or more will not be regenerated in the future. The globally averaged mean number of past or future regenerations scales with the bulk iron lifetime τ ∼ σ tot −1 and has a range of 0.05–2.2 for past and 0.01–1.4 for future regenerations. Memory of birth location fades rapidly with each regeneration, and DFe regenerated more than approximately five times is found in a pattern shaped by Southern Ocean nutrient trapping. We quantify the intrinsic fertilization efficiency of the unperturbed system at any point r in the ocean as the global export production resulting from the DFe at r per iron molecule. We show that this efficiency is closely related to the mean number of future regenerations that the iron will experience. At the surface, the intrinsic fertilization efficiency has a global mean in the range 0.7–7 mol P (mmol Fe) −1 across our family of state estimates and is largest in the central tropical Pacific, with the Southern Ocean having comparable importance only for high-iron-source scenarios. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Southern Ocean Biogeosciences 15 23 7177 7203 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
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Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 B. Pasquier M. Holzer The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Iron fertilization is explored by tracking dissolved iron (DFe) through its life cycle from injection by aeolian, sedimentary, and hydrothermal sources (birth) to burial in the sediments (death). We develop new diagnostic equations that count iron and phosphate regenerations with each passage through the biological pump and partition the ocean's DFe concentration according to the number of its past or future regenerations. We apply these diagnostics to a family of data-constrained estimates of the iron cycle with sources σ tot in the range 1.9–41 Gmol yr −1 . We find that for states with σ tot > 7 Gmol yr −1 , 50 % or more of the DFe inventory has not been regenerated in the past and 85 % or more will not be regenerated in the future. The globally averaged mean number of past or future regenerations scales with the bulk iron lifetime τ ∼ σ tot −1 and has a range of 0.05–2.2 for past and 0.01–1.4 for future regenerations. Memory of birth location fades rapidly with each regeneration, and DFe regenerated more than approximately five times is found in a pattern shaped by Southern Ocean nutrient trapping. We quantify the intrinsic fertilization efficiency of the unperturbed system at any point r in the ocean as the global export production resulting from the DFe at r per iron molecule. We show that this efficiency is closely related to the mean number of future regenerations that the iron will experience. At the surface, the intrinsic fertilization efficiency has a global mean in the range 0.7–7 mol P (mmol Fe) −1 across our family of state estimates and is largest in the central tropical Pacific, with the Southern Ocean having comparable importance only for high-iron-source scenarios. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
B. Pasquier M. Holzer |
author_facet |
B. Pasquier M. Holzer |
author_sort |
B. Pasquier |
title |
The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
title_short |
The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
title_full |
The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
title_fullStr |
The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
title_full_unstemmed |
The number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
title_sort |
number of past and future regenerations of iron in the ocean and its intrinsic fertilization efficiency |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7177-2018 https://doaj.org/article/e9ed1a984d4b431cafb4990df7455b55 |
geographic |
Pacific Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 15, Pp 7177-7203 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://www.biogeosciences.net/15/7177/2018/bg-15-7177-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-15-7177-2018 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/e9ed1a984d4b431cafb4990df7455b55 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-7177-2018 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
7177 |
op_container_end_page |
7203 |
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1766206622366957568 |