Fertilising the surface ocean – the role of volcanoes.

Duggen, Svend, Croot, Peter, Dietze, Heiner , Hoffmann, Linn , Olgun, Nazli and Schacht, Ulrike (2008) Fertilising the surface ocean – the role of volcanoes. Open Access IFM-GEOMAR [Annual] Report, 2007 . pp. 25-27.

[thumbnail of Duggen Croot ifm-geomar-annual-report-2007-5.pdf]
Preview
Text
Duggen Croot ifm-geomar-annual-report-2007-5.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Download (910kB) | Preview

Abstract

The oceans are by far the largest global reservoir of carbon that is available on climate relevant timescales (< 1000 yrs). A fraction of this oceanic carbon pool, comparable in magnitude with the CO2 inventory of today’s atmosphere, is transformed via biological assimilation of inorganic carbon into dissolved or particulate organic material within the sun-lit surface ocean. Subsequently this material can be respired, returning to the ocean as CO2, or it can sink to the sediments and this forms the basis of the ‘biological pump’. The efficiency of this pump is limited by the availability of nutrients, which are essential prerequisites for the growth of phytoplankton. We now know that vast areas of the surface ocean have extremely low nutrient
concentrations limiting productivity. For instance, in the subtropical oceanic gyres, which comprise more than 40% of the Earth’s surface, the macronutrients nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and phosphate are depleted to trace levels which limit phytoplankton abundance so strongly such that the term “oceanic desert” was coined for these regions.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Kohlenstoffdioxid, carbon dioxide, CO2, surface ocean, sediment, Sediment, volcanoes, Vulkane
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB2 Marine Biogeochemistry > FB2-BM Biogeochemical Modeling
OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB2 Marine Biogeochemistry > FB2-BI Biological Oceanography
OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB4 Dynamics of the Ocean Floor > FB4-MUHS
OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB2 Marine Biogeochemistry > FB2-CH Chemical Oceanography
Refereed: No
Open Access Journal?: Yes
Publisher: IFM-GEOMAR
Date Deposited: 05 Oct 2012 08:38
Last Modified: 23 Sep 2019 20:45
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/15474

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item