Mesoscale Iron Enrichment Experiments 1993-2005: Synthesis and Future Directions
Abstract
Since the mid-1980s, our understanding of nutrient limitation of oceanic primary production has radically changed. Mesoscale iron addition experiments (FeAXs) have unequivocally shown that iron supply limits production in one-third of the world ocean, where surface macronutrient concentrations are perennially high. The findings of these 12 FeAXs also reveal that iron supply exerts controls on the dynamics of plankton blooms, which in turn affect the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, silicon, and sulfur and ultimately influence the Earth climate system. However, extrapolation of the key results of FeAXs to regional and seasonal scales in some cases is limited because of differing modes of iron supply in FeAXs and in the modern and paleo-oceans. New research directions include quantification of the coupling of oceanic iron and carbon biogeochemistry.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Supplementary Material
File (boyd.som.pdf)
- Download
- 285.78 KB
References and Notes
1
J. H. Martin, Paleoceanography5, 1 (1990).
2
J. H. Martin, R. M. Gordon, S. E. Fitzwater, Limnol. Oceanogr.36, 1793 (1991).
3
D. M. Sigman, E. A. Boyle, Nature407, 859 (2000).
4
S. W. Chisholm, F. M. M. Morel, Limnol. Oceanogr.36, 1507 (1991).
5
A. Watson, P. Liss, R. Duce, Limnol. Oceanogr.36, 1960 (1991).
6
J. H. Martin et al., Nature371, 123 (1994).
7
The design of FeAXs has involved single or multiple infusion (time scale of days) of iron, as a salt dissolved in acidified seawater, and concurrent addition(s) of SF6 to the surface mixed layer of initial areal extent (50 to 225 km2). The use of the SF6 conservative tracer was essential to track this mesoscale region of iron-enriched surface ocean and avoids the uncertainty imposed by fixed-point sampling in Eulerian studies. This design (in particular the amount of Fe added) has changed little between FeAXs because of the need to ensure a large measurable biogeochemical signal during a relatively short period in a logistically challenging and dynamic environment.
8
H. J. W. de Baar et al., J. Geophys. Res.110, C09S16 (2005) and references therein.
9
FeNXs have examined naturally occurring blooms within HNLC waters near the Galapagos [see (4)], within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (8), and recently near the Southern Ocean islands Crozet and Kerguelen, where the studies Crozex (Crozet Circulation, Iron Fertilization and Export Production Experiment) and KEOPS (Kerguelen: Etude Comparée de l'Océan et du Plateau en Surface et Subsurface) took place from November 2004 to January 2005 and during January and February 2005, respectively (8).
10
K. Banse, Limnol. Oceanogr.36, 1886 (1991).
11
G. B. Mitchell, E. A. Brody, O. Holm-Hansen, C. McClain, J. Bishop, Limnol. Oceanogr.36, 1662 (1991).
12
The model in (11) was based on an adaptation of Sverdrup's critical depth theory (i.e., the relationship between the respective depths of the mixed and euphotic zones) for Southern Ocean waters.
13
M. T. Maldonado et al., Limnol. Oceanogr.46, 1802 (2001).
14
A. J. Watson, D. C. E. Bakker, A. J. Ridgewell, P. W. Boyd, C. S. Law, Nature407, 730 (2000).
15
D. A. Hutchins, K. W. Bruland, Nature393, 561 (1998).
16
W. O. Smith Jr., R. F. Andreson, J. K. Moore, L. A. Codispoti, J. M. Morrison, Deep Sea Res. II47, 3073 (2000).
17
P. W. Boyd et al., Limnol. Oceanogr.50, 1872 (2005).
18
K. O. Buesseler et al., Deep Sea Res. II50, 579 (2003).
19
F. M. M. Morel, J. G. Reuter, N. M. Price, Oceanography4, 56 (1990).
20
P. W. Boyd, S. Doney, in Ocean Biogeochemistry—The Role of the Ocean Carbon Cycle in Global Change (JGOFS), M. J. R. Fasham, Ed. (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2003), pp. 157–187.
21
A. R. Bowie et al., Deep Sea Res. II47, 1708 (2001).
22
M. L. Wells, Mar. Chem.82, 101 (2003).
23
P.W. Boyd, G. A. Jackson, A. M. Waite, Geophys. Res. Lett.29, (2002).
24
Y. Le Clainche et al., J. Geophys. Res.111, C01011 (2005).
25
T. D. Jickells et al., Science308, 67 (2005).
26
K. Lochte, H. W. Ducklow, M. J. R. Fasham, C. Stienen, Deep Sea Res. II40, 91 (1993).
27
A. Abelmann, R. Gersonde, G. Cortese, G. Kuhn, V. Smetacek, Paleoceanography21, PA1013 (2006).
28
D. A. Hutchins, W. X. Wang, N. S. Fisher, Limnol. Oceanogr.40, 989 (1995).
29
B. W. Frost, Nature383, 475 (1996).
30
K. H. Coale, Nature383, 495 (1996).
31
A. R. Baker, T. D. Jickells, M. Witt, K. L. Linge, Mar. Chem.98, 43 (2006).
32
T. D. Jickells, Mar. Chem.68, 5 (1999).
33
B. A. Bergquist, E. A. Boyle, Global Biogeochem. Cycles20, GB1015 (2006).
34
J. Wu, E. Boyle, W. Sunda, L.-S. Wen, Science292, 847 (2001).
35
K. Johnson et al., Eos86 (Ocean Sci. Meet. Suppl.), abstract OS11N-02 (2006).
36
P. Parekh, M. J. Follows, E. A. Boyle, Global Biogeochem. Cycles19, GB2020 (2005).
37
J. K. B. Bishop, R. E. Davis, J. T. Sherman, Science298, 817 (2003).
38
K. S. Johnson et al., Global Biogeochem. Cycles17, (2003).
39
E. W. Wolff et al., Nature440, (2006).
40
N. Lefevre, A. J. Watson, Global Biogeochem. Cycles13, 727 (1999).
41
L. Bopp, K. E. Kohfeld, C. Le Quéré, O. Aumont, Paleoceanography18, (2003).
42
R. D. Frew et al., Global Biogeochem. Cycles20, (2006).
43
W. G. Sunda, Mar. Chem.57, 169 (1997).
44
A. Gnanadesikan, J. L. Sarmiento, R. D. Slater, Global Biogeochem. Cycles17, (2003).
45
R. Strzepek et al., Global Biogeochem. Cycles20, (2006).
46
L. J. Hoffmann, I. Peeken, K. Lochte, P. Assmy, M. Veldhuis, Limnol. Oceanogr.51, 1217 (2006).
47
J. Bell, J. Betts, E. Boyle, Deep Sea Res. I49, 2103 (2002).
48
H. E. Garcia, R. A. Locarnini, T. P. Boyer, J. I. Antonov, in World Ocean Atlas 2005, vol. 4, Nutrients, S. Levitus, Ed. (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2006).
49
P. W. Boyd et al., Nature407, 695 (2000).
50
B. S. Twining, S. B. Baines, N. S. Fisher, Limnol. Oceanogr.49, 2115 (2004).
51
J. H. Martin, S. E. Fitzwater, R. M. Gordon, C. N. Hunter, S. J. Tanner, Deep Sea Res. II40, 115 (1993).
52
P. W. Boyd et al., Deep Sea Res. II46, 2761 (1999).
53
W. G. Sunda, S. A. Huntsman, Mar. Chem.50, 189 (1995).
54
K. O. Buesseler, J. E. Andrews, S. M. Pike, M. A. Charette, Science304, 414 (2004).
55
P. Boyd, unpublished data from SERIES.
56
F. Gervais, U. Riebesell, M. Y. Gorbunov, Limnol. Oceanogr.47, 1324 (2002).
57
S. Takeda, A. Tsuda, Prog. Oceanogr.64, 95 (2004).
58
K. H. Coale et al., Science304, 408 (2004).
59
SEEDS II took place in July 2004, SAGE in March–April 2004, and FeeP in May 2004. For more details, contact [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected], respectively.
60
The workshop “A Synthesis of Mesoscale Iron-Enrichments,” held in Wellington in November 2005, was supported by the Surface Ocean–Lower Atmosphere Study, NSF, NIWA, the New Zealand Royal Society, the UK Royal Society, Belgian Federal Science Policy, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. We thank E. McKay and K. Richardson for the graphics, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and insights. This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of R.B.
(0)eLetters
eLetters is a forum for ongoing peer review. eLetters are not edited, proofread, or indexed, but they are screened. eLetters should provide substantive and scholarly commentary on the article. Embedded figures cannot be submitted, and we discourage the use of figures within eLetters in general. If a figure is essential, please include a link to the figure within the text of the eLetter. Please read our Terms of Service before submitting an eLetter.
Log In to Submit a ResponseNo eLetters have been published for this article yet.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Science
Volume 315 | Issue 5812
2 February 2007
2 February 2007
Copyright
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Published in print: 2 February 2007
Notes
Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/315/5812/612/DC1
Tables S1 to S3
References
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Usage
Altmetrics
Citations
Cite as
- P. W. Boyd et al.
Export citation
Select the format you want to export the citation of this publication.
Cited by
- Atmospheric nourishment of global ocean ecosystems, Science, 380, 6644, (515-519), (2023)./doi/10.1126/science.abq5252
- Response to Comment on "The Southern Ocean Biological Response to Aeolian Iron Deposition", Science, 319, 5860, (159-159), (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.1150011
- Comment on "The Southern Ocean Biological Response to Aeolian Iron Deposition", Science, 319, 5860, (159-159), (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.1149884
- The Southern Ocean Biological Response to Aeolian Iron Deposition, Science, 317, 5841, (1067-1070), (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.1144602
- Free-Drifting Icebergs: Hot Spots of Chemical and Biological Enrichment in the Weddell Sea, Science, 317, 5837, (478-482), (2021)./doi/10.1126/science.1142834
- Endocytosis-mediated siderophore uptake as a strategy for Fe acquisition in diatoms, Science Advances, 4, 5, (2018)./doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar4536
- Iron Fertilization of the Subantarctic Ocean During the Last Ice Age, Science, 343, 6177, (1347-1350), (2014)./doi/10.1126/science.1246848
- Ocean Iron Fertilization--Moving Forward in a Sea of Uncertainty, Science, 319, 5860, (162-162), (2008)./doi/10.1126/science.1154305
Loading...
View Options
Check Access
Log in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS Members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
- Become a AAAS Member
- Activate your AAAS ID
- Purchase Access to Other Journals in the Science Family
- Account Help
Log in via OpenAthens.
Log in via Shibboleth.
More options
Purchase digital access to this article
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.