Nutrients in atmospheric aerosol particles along the Atlantic Meridional Transect

The atmosphere can be an important source of nutrients to remote ocean waters, e.g., in supplying iron to nitrogen fixers in the tropical North Atlantic. We use results obtained from aerosol collection during four meridional transect cruises of the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to identify sources of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Deep-sea research. Part II, Topical studies in oceanography Topical studies in oceanography, 2006-07, Vol.53 (14), p.1706-1719
Main Authors: Baker, A.R., Jickells, T.D., Biswas, K.F., Weston, K., French, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerosol
Biomass burning
Desert dust
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Marine
Marine and continental quaternary
Marine geology
Nutrients
Physics of the oceans
Surficial geology
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Summary:The atmosphere can be an important source of nutrients to remote ocean waters, e.g., in supplying iron to nitrogen fixers in the tropical North Atlantic. We use results obtained from aerosol collection during four meridional transect cruises of the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to identify sources of soluble nutrient species (Fe, N, P and Si) to the Atlantic atmosphere. The Sahara desert was the dominant source of soluble aerosol Fe and Si and also a significant source of aerosol P. Biomass burning and another source, possibly primary particles derived from vegetation, also contribute to the aerosol P loading. Industrial (NO x ) and agricultural (ammonium) sources contribute to high nitrogen concentrations in the northern hemisphere, while biomass burning appears to be a significant seasonal source of N to the southern hemisphere. This work is an initial step in our aim to describe the atmospheric nutrient inputs to the Atlantic basin using a much larger set of aerosol and rain samples that will be obtained during the Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) project and other field campaigns.
ISSN:0967-0645
1879-0100
DOI:10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.05.012