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Surface-water iron supplies in the Southern Ocean sustained by deep winter mixing
Citation
Tagliabue, A and Sallee, JB and Bowie, AR and Levy, M and Swart, S and Boyd, PW, Surface-water iron supplies in the Southern Ocean sustained by deep winter mixing, Nature Geoscience, 7, (4) pp. 314-320. ISSN 1752-0894 (2014) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2014 Macmillan Publishers
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.2554
DOI: doi:10.1038/NGEO2101
Abstract
Low levels of iron limit primary productivity across much of the Southern Ocean. At the basin scale, most dissolved iron is
supplied to surface waters from subsurface reservoirs, because land inputs are spatially limited. Deep mixing in winter together
with year-round diffusion across density surfaces, known as diapycnal diffusion, are the main physical processes that carry
iron-laden subsurface waters to the surface. Here, we analyse data on dissolved iron concentrations in the top 1,000 m of the
Southern Ocean, taken from all known and available cruises to date, together with hydrographic data to determine the relative
importance of deep winter mixing and diapycnal diffusion to dissolved iron fluxes at the basin scale. Using information on
the vertical distribution of iron we show that deep winter mixing supplies ten times more iron to the surface ocean each
year, on average, than diapycnal diffusion. Biological observations from the sub-Antarctic sector suggest that following the
depletion of this wintertime iron pulse, intense iron recycling sustains productivity over the subsequent spring and summer.
We conclude that winter mixing and surface-water iron recycling are important drivers of temporal variations in Southern
Ocean primary production.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | iron, Southern Ocean, wintertime mixing, recycling |
Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
Research Group: | Oceanography |
Research Field: | Chemical Oceanography |
Objective Division: | Environment |
Objective Group: | Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water |
Objective Field: | Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Marine Environments |
UTAS Author: | Bowie, AR (Professor Andrew Bowie) |
UTAS Author: | Boyd, PW (Professor Philip Boyd) |
ID Code: | 90755 |
Year Published: | 2014 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 102 |
Deposited By: | IMAS Research and Education Centre |
Deposited On: | 2014-04-23 |
Last Modified: | 2017-10-31 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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