Duprat, L.P.A.M., Bigg, G.R. and Wilton, D.J. (2016) Enhanced Southern Ocean marine productivity due to fertilization by giant icebergs. Nature Geoscience, 9 (3). pp. 219-221. ISSN 1752-0894
Abstract
Primary productivity is enhanced within a few kilometres of icebergs in the Weddell Sea owing to the input of terrigeneous nutrients and trace elements during iceberg melting. However, the influence of giant icebergs, over 18 km in length, on marine primary production in the Southern Ocean is less well studied. Here we present an analysis of 175 satellite images of open ocean colour before and after the passage of 17 giant icebergs between 2003 and 2013. We detect substantially enhanced chlorophyll levels, typically over a radius of at least 4-10 times the iceberg's length, that can persist for more than a month following passage of a giant iceberg. This area of influence is more than an order of magnitude larger than that found for sub-kilometre scale icebergs or in ship-based surveys of giant icebergs. Assuming that carbon export increases by a factor of 5-10 over the area of influence, we estimate that up to a fifth of the Southern Ocean's downward carbon flux originates with giant iceberg fertilization. We suggest that, if giant iceberg calving increases this century as expected, this negative feedback on the carbon cycle may become more important.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Nature Geoscience. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Mar 2016 09:26 |
Last Modified: | 11 Jul 2016 11:51 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2633 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/ngeo2633 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:96582 |