Volcanic emissions in the Southern Ocean: an efficient and unexpected source of iron for this remote area
This study suggests that volcanic emission can represent a significant source of bioavailable iron to open ocean anaemic ecosystems.
Iron
Surprising conservativity of trace metals along a costal embayment salinity gradient
Chen and co-workers analyzed an array of trace metals together with Rare Earth Elements in a salinity gradient in the Jinhae Bay, the largest semi-enclosed bay in South Korea…
Pros and cons of nine bioactive trace elements as tracers of modern and paleo-productivity
Horner and co-authors assess whether nine bioactive trace metals and their isotopes can be used as paleo-productivity proxies.
Retreat of large marine-terminating glaciers may increase iron supply to surface waters
The findings demonstrate that glacial retreat and loss of ice-shelves may potentially result in increases in dissolved iron supply to surface waters downstream of large marine terminating glaciers in future.
Variable dissolution rates and fates of lithogenic tracers at the air-sea interface
Roy-Barman and co-authors established the dissolution rates from Saharan dust reaching Mediterranean seawater.
Manganese: a surprising co-limiting factor of phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean
One of the main consequences of this work is that manganese should be included in ocean-climate models, more particularly to improve the accuracy of their predictions in this area.
Deep sea lithogenic weathering a source of iron colloids for the ocean
Homoky and co-workers determined the isotope composition of dissolved iron profiles in shallow surface sediments of the South Atlantic Uruguayan margin…
First direct measurements of luxury iron uptake in natural phytoplankton communities: surprising results!
This study demonstrates the importance of biology and ecology to understanding iron biogeochemistry.
Spatial and temporal variability of bioactive trace metals, speciation and organic metal-binding ligands in the eastern Gulf of Mexico
Mellett and Buck present the concentrations of bioactive trace metals (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Co, Ni, Cd, and Pb), Fe-and Cu-binding organic ligands, and electroactive Fe-binding humic substances in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
When GEOTRACES‐based synthesis efforts improve global iron-cycling understanding
Using historical (1987-2007) and recent GEOTRACES data, authors compiled an impressive data set comprising dissolved, filtered and trap-collected particulate iron
Particulate trace element export in the North Atlantic Ocean
Authors estimated particulate trace element export fluxes and residence times in the upper North Atlantic Ocean
Surface water trace element and isotope data challenge dust flux models
Using measurements of dissolved and particulate thorium-230 and thorium-232 along a section across the South Pacific, authors estimated the dust flux over this remote area
Dissolved iron and manganese fates reveal processes along the hydrothermal TAG plume
Authors performed high-spatial resolution analyses of dissolved iron and manganese samples collected at the Mid Atlantic Ridge
A new model simulates the speciation and dispersion of hydrothermal iron
Roshan and collaborators present new observations of dissolved iron and its physical speciation in the South Pacific
Mechanisms driving biological CO2 drawdown in the Subarctic Pacific unraveled
Nishioka and co-authors compiled comprehensive data sets of iron and macronutrients covering the whole subarctic Pacific…
The biogeochemical ventures of dissolved iron and manganese across the Arctic Ocean
The spatial distributions and biogeochemical cycling of dissolved Fe (dFe) and dissolved manganese (dMn) across the Arctic Ocean were established during summer and fall 2015. The Canadian GEOTRACES transect extended […]
Loihi Seamount, hydrothermal Helium-3 and dissolved iron sources and their dispersion within the Pacific Ocean
As part of the GEOTRACES cruise GP15, Jenkins and co-workers (2020, see reference below) observed large water column anomalies in helium isotopes and trace metal concentrations above the Loihi Seamount […]
Oceanic Margins as sources of lithogenic particulate and dissolved iron in the North Pacific Ocean
Three GEOTRACES Japanese cruises on board the R/V Hakuho Maru allowed establishing basin-scale and full-depth sectional distributions of total dissolvable iron (tdFe), dissolved iron (dFe), and labile particulate iron (lpFe=tdFe […]
Is the global primary production at it’s maximum rate?
Lauderdale and co-authors (2020, see reference below) are seriously questioning the paradigm establishing that marine phytoplankton growth is limited by iron on a global scale. Iron availability to marine microbes […]
Can phytoplankton help us determine the bioavailability of iron in the world ocean?
Joint Science Highlight with US Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB). Iron (Fe) is a key element to life but in seawater it is present at extremely low concentrations. The scarcity […]
The Colloidal Hourglass: North Atlantic Iron Distribution Controlled by Dynamic Colloidal Phase
K. Kunde and colleagues (2019, reference below) show that a highly dynamic colloidal iron phase in the upper ocean and at the seafloor boundary controls the distribution of dissolved iron […]
Unprecedented iron delivery from the Congo River margin to the South Atlantic Gyre
Radium isotopes are used to demonstrate that make the Congo the most significant riverine source of iron to the South Atlantic.
Diatoms use a stolen bacterial gene to commit iron piracy
Joint Science Highlight with US-Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (US-OCB). Much of the primary production in low-iron marine environments is carried out by diatoms, and therefore the details of how these […]
Icebergs; a huge but highly variable source of iron to the ocean
Icebergs have been speculated to constitute one of the largest fluxes of iron (Fe) into the polar oceans since the 1930s and thus recent increases in ice discharge around the […]
Glacial erosion processes suspected to enhance the lability of particulate iron, with a strong influence on the biological demand in the subantarctic waters
As part of the GEOTRACES process study HEOBI (GIpr05) van der Merwe and co-workers (2019, see reference below) conducted a thorough characterization of the labile and refractory iron phases of the […]
A new application of aerosol iron isotopes: tracing anthropogenic iron; an example of the North Atlantic Ocean
Conway and co-authors (2019, see reference below) present the first evidence that anthropogenic iron (Fe) from combustion sources is visible at the basin scale, using iron isotopic composition (δ56Fe) analysis […]
Upwelled hydrothermal iron stimulates massive phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean
Joint Science Highlight with US-Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry (US-OCB). In a recent study, Ardyna et al (2019, see reference below) combined observations of profiling floats with historical trace element data and […]
Glacial erosion processes suspected to enhance the lability of particulate iron, with a strong influence on the biological demand in the subantarctic waters
As part of the GEOTRACES process study HEOBI (GIpr05) van der Merwe and co-workers (2019, see reference below) conducted a thorough characterization of the labile and refractory iron phases of the […]
The Scottish shelf break is not a significant source of iron to North Atlantic surface waters
A high resolution survey of the distribution of dissolved iron (dFe) over the Hebridean (Scottish) shelf break was conducted as part of the U.K. Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry programme, a GEOTRACES […]
Gulf stream eddies are fertilizing the Western Atlantic Ocean
Tim Conway and co-authors (2018, see reference below) show that Gulf Steam eddies can provide an extra supply of iron, and nutrients such as phosphate and nitrate to the iron-starved […]