Hydrothermalism: A significant dissolved iron source for the deep waters ?

Science Highlights

29 January 2013

A North-South basin-scale full-depth section profile of dissolved Fe was realized in the Indian Ocean, as part of the first GEOTRACES Japanese cruise (Nov 2009 – Jan 2010). The data clearly show that hydrothermal Fe is distributed over 3000 km distance around a depth of ~ 3000 m, and that a large fraction of this Fe is truly dissolved. Several other sources supplying dissolved Fe to deep waters (e.g terrestrial Fe input) with a persistent condition in the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) were also evidenced.

Nishioka_jun_elsevier

Source: Science Direct (click on the image to view it larger)

Reference:

Jun Nishioka, Hajime Obata, Daisuke Tsumune (2013), Evidence of an extensive spread of hydrothermal dissolved iron in the Indian Ocean : Earth and Planetary Science Letters, ELSEVIER (361) p. 26-33, DOI: /10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.040

Latest highlights

Deep-sea mining, dewatering waste, accidental plumes and their potential consequences on trace metal fates in the North Pacific Ocean

Xiang and his colleagues conducted laboratory incubation experiments that simulate mining discharge into anoxic waters.

Biogeochemical behaviours of barium and radium-226 in the Pacific Ocean

Barium and radium-226 are not just proxies for nutrients and ocean circulation but are themselves marine biogeochemical tracers…

Intrigued by Rare Earth Elements and neodymium isotopes? A review for the curious

Vanessa Hatje and a group of Rare Earth Element (REE) specialists propose an exhaustive review on the behaviour of REE.

North-South section of bioactive cadmium, nickel, zinc, copper and iron along GEOTRACES transect GP19 in the Pacific Ocean

Zheng and his colleagues propose the first full sections of the simultaneous dissolved distributions of five nutrient-type trace metals in the western South Pacific Ocean.

Rechercher