Glacial meltwater from Greenland is not likely to be an important source of Fe to the North Atlantic
Glacial meltwater from Greenland is not likely to be an important source of Fe to the North Atlantic
Recent work has shown that glaciers are a globally significant source of the micronutrient Fe to the ocean. Polar regions are particularly susceptible to climate change and have been subject to pronounced warming in the past few decades. In response to this warming, the volume of glacial meltwater runoff from Greenland has increased. This meltwater has a relatively high particulate and dissolved Fe content. Seasonal Fe limitation of marine ecosystems has been found in parts of the North Atlantic, so it has been proposed that increasing fluxes of Fe rich meltwater from Greenland to the North Atlantic could alleviate this Fe limitation and thereby increase marine primary production. However, here we use a synthesis of biogeochemical and physical oceanography studies to suggest that the physical circulation around Greenland does not favour direct export of dissolved or particulate Fe from inshore to offshore waters. The Fe budget in surface waters of the North Atlantic may therefore be insensitive to increasing meltwater fluxes from Greenland.
Iron, North Atlantic, Glacial flour, Greenland
1-11
Hopwood, M.J.
43490323-6890-4689-91de-5e5f1ffe07b6
Bacon, S.
1e7aa6e3-4fb4-4230-8ba7-90837304a9a7
Arendt, K.
c4dec318-45b4-41ca-95ba-1cf02a4acb5d
Connelly, D.P.
d49131bb-af38-4768-9953-7ae0b43e33c8
Statham, P.J.
51458f15-d6e2-4231-8bba-d0567f9e440c
May 2015
Hopwood, M.J.
43490323-6890-4689-91de-5e5f1ffe07b6
Bacon, S.
1e7aa6e3-4fb4-4230-8ba7-90837304a9a7
Arendt, K.
c4dec318-45b4-41ca-95ba-1cf02a4acb5d
Connelly, D.P.
d49131bb-af38-4768-9953-7ae0b43e33c8
Statham, P.J.
51458f15-d6e2-4231-8bba-d0567f9e440c
Hopwood, M.J., Bacon, S., Arendt, K., Connelly, D.P. and Statham, P.J.
(2015)
Glacial meltwater from Greenland is not likely to be an important source of Fe to the North Atlantic.
Biogeochemistry, 124 (1-3), .
(doi:10.1007/s10533-015-0091-6).
Abstract
Recent work has shown that glaciers are a globally significant source of the micronutrient Fe to the ocean. Polar regions are particularly susceptible to climate change and have been subject to pronounced warming in the past few decades. In response to this warming, the volume of glacial meltwater runoff from Greenland has increased. This meltwater has a relatively high particulate and dissolved Fe content. Seasonal Fe limitation of marine ecosystems has been found in parts of the North Atlantic, so it has been proposed that increasing fluxes of Fe rich meltwater from Greenland to the North Atlantic could alleviate this Fe limitation and thereby increase marine primary production. However, here we use a synthesis of biogeochemical and physical oceanography studies to suggest that the physical circulation around Greenland does not favour direct export of dissolved or particulate Fe from inshore to offshore waters. The Fe budget in surface waters of the North Atlantic may therefore be insensitive to increasing meltwater fluxes from Greenland.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 31 March 2015
Published date: May 2015
Keywords:
Iron, North Atlantic, Glacial flour, Greenland
Organisations:
Ocean and Earth Science, Marine Geoscience, Marine Physics and Ocean Climate
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 375717
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375717
ISSN: 0168-2563
PURE UUID: b8281f4b-ee65-4ad7-8eef-9bc51ce204a4
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Date deposited: 01 Apr 2015 10:43
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:30
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Contributors
Author:
M.J. Hopwood
Author:
S. Bacon
Author:
K. Arendt
Author:
D.P. Connelly
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