Müller, J, Romero, O, Cowan, EA et al. (8 more authors) (2018) Cordilleran ice-sheet growth fueled primary productivity in the Gulf of Alaska, northeast Pacific Ocean. Geology, 46 (4). pp. 307-310. ISSN 0091-7613
Abstract
Fertilization of the ocean by eolian dust and icebergs is an effective mechanism to enhance primary productivity. In particular, high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) areas where phytoplankton growth is critically iron-limited, such as the subarctic Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean, are proposed to respond to increases in bioavailable Fe supply with enhanced phytoplankton productivity and carbon export to the seafloor. While Fe-fertilization from dust is widely acknowledged to explain a higher export production during glacial periods in the Southern Ocean, paleoceanographic records supporting links between productivity and eolian dust and/or icebergs in the North Pacific are scarce. By combining independent proxies indicative of ice-sheet dynamics and ocean productivity from a single marine sedimentary record (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program [IODP] Site U1417), we present a comprehensive data set of phytoplankton response to different fertilization mechanisms in the subarctic northeast Pacific between 1.5 and 0.5 Ma, including the Mid Pleistocene Transition. Importantly, the timing of the fertilization events is more strongly controlled by local ice-sheet extent than by glacial-interglacial climate variability. Our findings indicate that fertilization by glacigenic debris results in productivity events in HNLC areas adjacent to ice sheets, and that this mechanism may represent an important, yet rarely considered, driver of phytoplankton growth.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Geological Society of America. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Geology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2018 15:27 |
Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2019 01:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Geological Society of America |
Identification Number: | 10.1130/G39904.1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:126648 |