The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

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
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
0168-2563
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
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), 1-11. (doi:10.1007/s10533-015-0091-6).

Record type: Article

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.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

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

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 01 Apr 2015 10:43
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:30

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: M.J. Hopwood
Author: S. Bacon
Author: K. Arendt
Author: D.P. Connelly
Author: P.J. Statham

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×