Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust
Enhanced atmospheric input of dust-borne nutrients and minerals to the remote surface ocean can potentially increase carbon uptake and sequestration at depth. Nutrients can enhance primary productivity, and mineral particles act as ballast, increasing sinking rates of particulate organic matter. Her...
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/1/Pabortsava_et_al_2017.pdf |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:516336 2023-05-15T17:28:31+02:00 Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust Pabortsava, Katsiaryna Lampitt, Richard Benson, Jeff Crowe, Chris McLachlan, Robert Le Moigne, Frederic A.C. Moore, C. Mark Pebody, Corinne Provost, Paul Rees, Andrew Tilstone, Gavin Woodword, E. Malcolm 2017-02-27 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/1/Pabortsava_et_al_2017.pdf en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/1/Pabortsava_et_al_2017.pdf Pabortsava, Katsiaryna; Lampitt, Richard; Benson, Jeff; Crowe, Chris; McLachlan, Robert; Le Moigne, Frederic A.C.; Moore, C. Mark; Pebody, Corinne; Provost, Paul; Rees, Andrew; Tilstone, Gavin; Woodword, E. Malcolm. 2017 Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust. Nature Geoscience, 10 (3). 189-194. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2899 <https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2899> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2899 2023-02-04T19:44:32Z Enhanced atmospheric input of dust-borne nutrients and minerals to the remote surface ocean can potentially increase carbon uptake and sequestration at depth. Nutrients can enhance primary productivity, and mineral particles act as ballast, increasing sinking rates of particulate organic matter. Here we present a two-year time series of sediment trap observations of particulate organic carbon flux to 3,000 m depth, measured directly in two locations: the dust-rich central North Atlantic gyre and the dust-poor South Atlantic gyre. We find that carbon fluxes are twice as high and a higher proportion of primary production is exported to depth in the dust-rich North Atlantic gyre. Low stable nitrogen isotope ratios suggest that high fluxes result from the stimulation of nitrogen fixation and productivity following the deposition of dust-borne nutrients. Sediment traps in the northern gyre also collected intact colonies of nitrogen-fixing Trichodesmium species. Whereas ballast in the southern gyre is predominantly biogenic, dust-derived mineral particles constitute the dominant ballast element during the enhanced carbon fluxes in the northern gyre. We conclude that dust deposition increases carbon sequestration in the North Atlantic gyre through the fertilization of the nitrogen-fixing community in surface waters and mineral ballasting of sinking particles. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Nature Geoscience 10 3 189 194 |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Enhanced atmospheric input of dust-borne nutrients and minerals to the remote surface ocean can potentially increase carbon uptake and sequestration at depth. Nutrients can enhance primary productivity, and mineral particles act as ballast, increasing sinking rates of particulate organic matter. Here we present a two-year time series of sediment trap observations of particulate organic carbon flux to 3,000 m depth, measured directly in two locations: the dust-rich central North Atlantic gyre and the dust-poor South Atlantic gyre. We find that carbon fluxes are twice as high and a higher proportion of primary production is exported to depth in the dust-rich North Atlantic gyre. Low stable nitrogen isotope ratios suggest that high fluxes result from the stimulation of nitrogen fixation and productivity following the deposition of dust-borne nutrients. Sediment traps in the northern gyre also collected intact colonies of nitrogen-fixing Trichodesmium species. Whereas ballast in the southern gyre is predominantly biogenic, dust-derived mineral particles constitute the dominant ballast element during the enhanced carbon fluxes in the northern gyre. We conclude that dust deposition increases carbon sequestration in the North Atlantic gyre through the fertilization of the nitrogen-fixing community in surface waters and mineral ballasting of sinking particles. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pabortsava, Katsiaryna Lampitt, Richard Benson, Jeff Crowe, Chris McLachlan, Robert Le Moigne, Frederic A.C. Moore, C. Mark Pebody, Corinne Provost, Paul Rees, Andrew Tilstone, Gavin Woodword, E. Malcolm |
spellingShingle |
Pabortsava, Katsiaryna Lampitt, Richard Benson, Jeff Crowe, Chris McLachlan, Robert Le Moigne, Frederic A.C. Moore, C. Mark Pebody, Corinne Provost, Paul Rees, Andrew Tilstone, Gavin Woodword, E. Malcolm Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust |
author_facet |
Pabortsava, Katsiaryna Lampitt, Richard Benson, Jeff Crowe, Chris McLachlan, Robert Le Moigne, Frederic A.C. Moore, C. Mark Pebody, Corinne Provost, Paul Rees, Andrew Tilstone, Gavin Woodword, E. Malcolm |
author_sort |
Pabortsava, Katsiaryna |
title |
Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust |
title_short |
Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust |
title_full |
Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust |
title_fullStr |
Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust |
title_full_unstemmed |
Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust |
title_sort |
carbon sequestration in the deep atlantic enhanced by saharan dust |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/1/Pabortsava_et_al_2017.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516336/1/Pabortsava_et_al_2017.pdf Pabortsava, Katsiaryna; Lampitt, Richard; Benson, Jeff; Crowe, Chris; McLachlan, Robert; Le Moigne, Frederic A.C.; Moore, C. Mark; Pebody, Corinne; Provost, Paul; Rees, Andrew; Tilstone, Gavin; Woodword, E. Malcolm. 2017 Carbon sequestration in the deep Atlantic enhanced by Saharan dust. Nature Geoscience, 10 (3). 189-194. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2899 <https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2899> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2899 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
189 |
op_container_end_page |
194 |
_version_ |
1766121251888168960 |