Affiliation:
1. Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom;
2. Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Center Southampton, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, Southampton SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom
Abstract
Dust is produced primarily in desert regions and transported long distances through the atmosphere to the oceans. Upon deposition of dust, its dissolution can provide an important source of a range of nutrients, particularly iron, to microbes living in open ocean surface waters. The dust supply is greatest nearest to deserts, hence in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Ocean region is farthest from these dust sources and shows clear evidence that phytoplankton primary production is limited, at least in part, by the rate of supply of iron. Iron is also essential for nitrogen fixation. In regions of high atmospheric iron supply, such as the tropical North Atlantic, stimulation of nitrogen fixation drives the phytoplankton population toward a state in which phosphorus supply rates limit primary production. Atmospheric deposition is also an important source of nitrogen to the low latitude ocean, where it stimulates primary production. In this review we consider the sources, transport, and deposition of atmospheric dust/iron and nitrogen to the oceans and their impacts on plankton systems. In conclusion, we suggest key areas for future research.
Subject
Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cited by
114 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献