The decline and fate of an iron-induced subarctic phytoplankton bloom
Open accessAbstract
Iron supply has a key role in stimulating phytoplankton blooms in high-nitrate low-chlorophyll oceanic waters. However, the fate of the carbon fixed by these blooms, and how efficiently it is exported into the ocean's interior, remains largely unknown. Here we report on the decline and fate of an iron-stimulated diatom bloom in the Gulf of Alaska. The bloom terminated on day 18, following the depletion of iron and then silicic acid, after which mixed-layer particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations declined over six days. Increased particulate silica export via sinking diatoms was recorded in sediment traps at depths between 50 and 125 m from day 21, yet increased POC export was not evident until day 24. Only a small proportion of the mixed-layer POC was intercepted by the traps, with more than half of the mixed-layer POC deficit attributable to bacterial remineralization and mesozooplankton grazing. The depletion of silicic acid and the inefficient transfer of iron-increased POC below the permanent thermocline have major implications both for the biogeochemical interpretation of times of greater iron supply in the geological past, and also for proposed geo-engineering schemes to increase oceanic carbon sequestration.
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Addition of iron to induce an algal bloom has been considered and tested as a strategy to sequester CO2.
“Interestingly, the addition of iron to induce an algal bloom has been considered and tested as a strategy to sequester CO2 [47–49].”
From Biofuels from algae: Challenges and potential (2010) · cites this paper as [48]
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- Authors
- Boyd, P. W., Law, C. S., Wong, C. S., Nojiri, Y., Tsuda, A., Levasseur, M., Takeda, S., Rivkin, R., Harrison, P. J., Strzepek, R., Gower, J., McKay, R. M., Abraham, E., Arychuk, M., Barwell-Clarke, J., Crawford, W., Crawford, D., Hale, M., Harada, K., Johnson, K., Kiyosawa, H., Kudo, I., Marchetti, A., Miller, W., Needoba, J., Nishioka, J., Ogawa, H., Page, J., Robert, M., Saito, H., Sastri, A., Sherry, N., Soutar, T., Sutherland, N., Taira, Y., Whitney, F., Wong, S.-K. E., & Yoshimura, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Otago (NZ)
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NZ)
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada (CA)
- National Institute for Environmental Studies (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Université Laval (CA)
- Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (JP)
- Hokkaido University (JP)
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (JP)
- Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (JP)
- University of Victoria (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Boyd, Philip W.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2004-03-17
- Volume
- 428
- Issue
- 6982
- Pages
- 549-553
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2168030205
- Cited by
- 514
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 45.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and coastal ecosystems
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Keywords
- iron fertilization, phytoplankton blooms, diatom blooms, bloom termination, particulate organic carbon export, sediment traps, mesozooplankton grazing, iron limitation, carbon sequestration, high-nutrient low-chlorophyll waters, Gulf of Alaska
- MeSH terms
- Alaska, Carbon, Cold Climate, Iron, Oceans and Seas, Phytoplankton, Seawater, Silicon Dioxide, Silicic Acid, Time Factors, Diatoms
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