Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs
Primary productivity is enhanced within a few kilometres of icebergs in the Weddell Sea owing to the input of terrigeneous nutrients and trace elements during iceberg melting. However, the influence of giant icebergs, over 18 km in length, on marine primary production in the Southern Ocean is less w...
Published in: | Nature Geoscience |
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Online Access: | https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/1/revised_submission_pdf.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/7/Supplementary_Table_S1.xlsx https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/8/Supplementary_Table_S2.xlsx https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2633 |
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:96582 2023-05-15T18:25:00+02:00 Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs Duprat, L.P.A.M. Bigg, G.R. Wilton, D.J. 2016-03-01 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/1/revised_submission_pdf.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/7/Supplementary_Table_S1.xlsx https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/8/Supplementary_Table_S2.xlsx https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2633 en eng Nature Publishing Group https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/1/revised_submission_pdf.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/7/Supplementary_Table_S1.xlsx https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/8/Supplementary_Table_S2.xlsx Duprat, L.P.A.M., Bigg, G.R. and Wilton, D.J. (2016) Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs. Nature Geoscience, 9 (3). pp. 219-221. ISSN 1752-0894 Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftleedsuniv https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2633 2023-01-30T21:40:04Z Primary productivity is enhanced within a few kilometres of icebergs in the Weddell Sea owing to the input of terrigeneous nutrients and trace elements during iceberg melting. However, the influence of giant icebergs, over 18 km in length, on marine primary production in the Southern Ocean is less well studied. Here we present an analysis of 175 satellite images of open ocean colour before and after the passage of 17 giant icebergs between 2003 and 2013. We detect substantially enhanced chlorophyll levels, typically over a radius of at least 4-10 times the iceberg's length, that can persist for more than a month following passage of a giant iceberg. This area of influence is more than an order of magnitude larger than that found for sub-kilometre scale icebergs or in ship-based surveys of giant icebergs. Assuming that carbon export increases by a factor of 5-10 over the area of influence, we estimate that up to a fifth of the Southern Ocean's downward carbon flux originates with giant iceberg fertilization. We suggest that, if giant iceberg calving increases this century as expected, this negative feedback on the carbon cycle may become more important. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Weddell Sea White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) Southern Ocean Weddell Weddell Sea Nature Geoscience 9 3 219 221 |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
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language |
English |
description |
Primary productivity is enhanced within a few kilometres of icebergs in the Weddell Sea owing to the input of terrigeneous nutrients and trace elements during iceberg melting. However, the influence of giant icebergs, over 18 km in length, on marine primary production in the Southern Ocean is less well studied. Here we present an analysis of 175 satellite images of open ocean colour before and after the passage of 17 giant icebergs between 2003 and 2013. We detect substantially enhanced chlorophyll levels, typically over a radius of at least 4-10 times the iceberg's length, that can persist for more than a month following passage of a giant iceberg. This area of influence is more than an order of magnitude larger than that found for sub-kilometre scale icebergs or in ship-based surveys of giant icebergs. Assuming that carbon export increases by a factor of 5-10 over the area of influence, we estimate that up to a fifth of the Southern Ocean's downward carbon flux originates with giant iceberg fertilization. We suggest that, if giant iceberg calving increases this century as expected, this negative feedback on the carbon cycle may become more important. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Duprat, L.P.A.M. Bigg, G.R. Wilton, D.J. |
spellingShingle |
Duprat, L.P.A.M. Bigg, G.R. Wilton, D.J. Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
author_facet |
Duprat, L.P.A.M. Bigg, G.R. Wilton, D.J. |
author_sort |
Duprat, L.P.A.M. |
title |
Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
title_short |
Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
title_full |
Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
title_fullStr |
Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
title_sort |
enhanced southern ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/1/revised_submission_pdf.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/7/Supplementary_Table_S1.xlsx https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/8/Supplementary_Table_S2.xlsx https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2633 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean Weddell Sea |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/1/revised_submission_pdf.pdf https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/7/Supplementary_Table_S1.xlsx https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96582/8/Supplementary_Table_S2.xlsx Duprat, L.P.A.M., Bigg, G.R. and Wilton, D.J. (2016) Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs. Nature Geoscience, 9 (3). pp. 219-221. ISSN 1752-0894 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2633 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
219 |
op_container_end_page |
221 |
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1766206118519898112 |