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Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Deep carbon export from a Southern Ocean iron-fertilized diatom bloom
 
Creator Smetacek, V.
Klaas, C.
Strass, V.H.
Assmy, P.
Montresor, M.
Cisewski, B.
Savoye, N.
Webb, A.
d’Ovidio, F.
Arrieta, J.M.
Bathmann, U.
Bellerby, R.
Berg, G.M.
Croot, P.
Gonzalez, S.
Henjes, J.
Herndl, G.J.
Hoffmann, L.J.
Leach, H.
Losch, M.
Mills, M.M.
Neill, C.
Peeken, I.
Rottgers, R.
Sachs, O.
Sauter, E.
Schmidt, M.M.
Schwarz, J.
Terbruggen, A.
Wolf-Gladrow, D.
 
Subject climatic changes
carbon fixation
sinking
 
Description Fertilization of the ocean by adding iron compounds has induced diatom-dominated phytoplankton blooms accompanied by considerable carbon dioxide drawdown in the ocean surface layer. However, because the fate of bloom biomass could not be adequately resolved in these experiments, the timescales of carbon sequestration from the atmosphere are uncertain. Here we report the results of a five-week experiment carried out in the closed core of a vertically coherent, mesoscale eddy of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, during which we tracked sinking particles from the surface to the deep-sea floor. A large diatom bloom peaked in the fourth week after fertilization. This was followed by mass mortality of several diatom species that formed rapidly sinking, mucilaginous aggregates of entangled cells and chains. Taken together, multiple lines of evidence - although each with important uncertainties - lead us to conclude that at least half the bloom biomass sank far below a depth of 1000 metres and that a substantial portion is likely to have reached the sea floor. Thus, iron-fertilized diatom blooms may sequester carbon for timescales of centuries in ocean bottom water and for longer in the sediments.
 
Date 2012-08-21T06:02:08Z
2012-08-21T06:02:08Z
2012
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Nature, vol.487; 2012; 313-319
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4114
 
Language en
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Nature Publishing Group. Copyright [2009] Nature Publishing Group. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v487/n7407/full/nature11229.html
 
Publisher Nature Publishing Group