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Cited by 1,236Atmospheric aerosols and cloudsAtmospheric chemistry and aerosolsAeolian processes and effects

Atmospheric global dust cycle and iron inputs to the ocean

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Mahowald, Natalie M., Baker, Alex R., Bergametti, Gilles, Brooks, Nick, Duce, Robert A., Jickells, Timothy D., Kubilay, Nilgün, Prospero, Joseph M. +1 more·2005·Global Biogeochemical Cycles
DOI 10.1029/2004gb002402
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Abstract

Since iron is an important micronutrient, deposition of iron in mineral aerosols can impact the carbon cycle and atmospheric CO 2 . This paper reviews our current understanding of the global dust cycle and identifies future research needs. The global distribution of desert dust is estimated from a combination of observations of dust from in situ concentration, optical depth, and deposition data; observations from satellite; and global atmospheric models. The anthropogenically influenced portion of atmospheric desert dust flux is thought to be smaller than the natural portion, but is difficult to quantify due to the poorly understood response of desert dust to changes in climate, land use, and water use. The iron content of aerosols is thought to vary by a factor of 2, while the uncertainty in dust deposition is at least a factor of 10 in some regions due to the high spatial and temporal variability and limited observations. Importantly, we have a limited understanding of the processes by which relatively insoluble soil iron (typically ∼0.5% is soluble) becomes more soluble (1–80%) during atmospheric transport, but these processes could be impacted by anthropogenic emissions of sulfur or organic acids. In order to understand how humans will impact future iron deposition to the oceans, we need to improve our understanding of: iron deposition to remote oceans, iron chemistry in aerosols, how desert dust sources will respond to climate change, and how humans will impact the transport of bioavailable fraction of iron to the oceans.

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  • The NE Atlantic is the major global receptor of desert dust, about 45% of the global desert dust inputs to the ocean (450 Tg/y) occurs in this region.

    “The NE Atlantic is the major global receptor of desert dust, about the 45% of the global desert dust inputs to the ocean (450 Tg/y) occurs in this region (Mahowald et al., 2005;Huneeus et al., 2011).”

    From African desert dust influences migrations and fisheries of the Atlantic skipjack-tuna (2023) · cites this paper as Mahowald et al., 2005

    Table 1 (section 5, page not available) gives composite dust deposition of 202 Tg/year to the North Atlantic, the largest listed ocean basin. The listed basin totals sum to 438 Tg/year, so the North Atlantic receives about 46% of that total—close to the claimed 45% of roughly 450 Tg/year. The table does not isolate the northeastern Atlantic, so it does not support assigning that share to that region specifically. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

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Authors
Mahowald, N. M., Baker, A. R., Bergametti, G., Brooks, N., Duce, R. A., Jickells, T. D., Kubilay, N., Prospero, J. M., & Tegen, I.
Affiliations
  • NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US)
  • University of East Anglia (GB)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Texas A&M University (US)
  • Middle East Technical University (TR)
  • University of Miami (US)
  • Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Published
2005-12
Volume
19
Issue
4
Pages
n/a-n/a
ISSN
  • 0886-6236 (ISSN-L)
  • 1944-9224
DOI
10.1029/2004gb002402
OpenAlex
W1884540967
Cited by
1,236
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 50 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 91 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 99 · 2019: 73 · 2018: 64 · 2017: 67 · 2016: 57 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 60 · 2013: 70 · 2012: 50
FWCI
28.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 29 d)
Locations
  • Global Biogeochemical Cycles (publishedVersion)
  • OpenMETU (Middle East Technical University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (0228863, 9981398, 0402845)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Aeolian processes and effects
Keywords
mineral dust, iron accumulation, micronutrients, dust deposition, atmospheric transport, carbon cycle, atmospheric CO2, bioavailable iron

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