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Iron fertilization is the intentional introduction of iron-containing compounds (like iron sulfate) to iron-poor areas of the ocean surface to stimulate phytoplankton production. This is intended to enhance biological productivity and/or accelerate carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sequestration from the atmosphere.
The ocean is a critical component of the Earth's climate system, and the iron cycle plays a key role in ocean primary productivity and marine ecosystem function. Iron limitation has been known to limit the efficiency of the biological carbon pump.
Iron is a critical phytoplankton micronutrient necessary for enzyme catalysis and electron transport. [3] [4] Between the 1930s and '80s, it was hypothesized that iron is a limiting ocean micronutrient, but there were not sufficient methods reliably to detect iron in seawater to confirm this hypothesis. [5]
Banded iron formation largely disappears from the geological record at 1.85 Ga, after peaking at about 2.5 Ga. [19] Banded iron formation can form only when abundant dissolved ferrous iron is transported into depositional basins, and an oxygenated ocean blocks such transport by oxidizing the iron to form insoluble ferric iron compounds. [20]
Manganese nodules from the South Pacific Ocean. In both marine and terrestrial environments, ferromanganese nodules are composed primarily of iron and manganese oxide concretions supported by an aluminosilicate matrix and surrounding a nucleus.
Whale feces is up to 10 million times richer in iron than the surrounding sea water and plays a vital role in providing the iron required for maintaining phytoplankton biomass on the earth. [9] The iron defecation of just the 12,000 strong sperm whale population in the Southern Ocean results in the sequestration of 200,000 tonnes of atmospheric ...
Born in Old Lyme, Connecticut, he is known for his research on the role of iron as a phytoplankton micronutrient, and its significance for so-called "High-Nutrient, Low Chlorophyll" regions of the oceans. [1] He further advocated the use of iron fertilization to enhance oceanic primary production and act as a sink for fossil fuel carbon dioxide.
Despite significant macronutrient concentrations, some ocean regions are unproductive (so-called HNLC regions). [50] The micronutrient iron is deficient in these regions, and adding it can lead to the formation of phytoplankton algal blooms. [51] Iron primarily reaches the ocean through the deposition of dust on the sea surface.