Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia
© Author(s) 2016.Marine nitrogen fixation is co-limited by the supply of iron (Fe) and phosphorus in large regions of the global ocean. The deposition of soluble aerosol Fe can initiate nitrogen fixation and trigger toxic algal blooms in nitrate-poor tropical waters. We present dry season soluble Fe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Copernicus GmbH
2016
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100029 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58335 |
| _version_ | 1848760233944416256 |
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| author | Winton, V. Edwards, Peter Bowie, A. Keywood, M. Williams, A. Chambers, S. Selleck, P. Desservettaz, M. Mallet, M. Paton-Walsh, C. |
| author_facet | Winton, V. Edwards, Peter Bowie, A. Keywood, M. Williams, A. Chambers, S. Selleck, P. Desservettaz, M. Mallet, M. Paton-Walsh, C. |
| author_sort | Winton, V. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © Author(s) 2016.Marine nitrogen fixation is co-limited by the supply of iron (Fe) and phosphorus in large regions of the global ocean. The deposition of soluble aerosol Fe can initiate nitrogen fixation and trigger toxic algal blooms in nitrate-poor tropical waters. We present dry season soluble Fe data from the Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season (SAFIRED) campaign in northern Australia that reflects coincident dust and biomass burning sources of soluble aerosol Fe. The mean soluble and total aerosol Fe concentrations were 40 and 500 ng m-3 respectively. Our results show that while biomass burning species may not be a direct source of soluble Fe, biomass burning may substantially enhance the solubility of mineral dust. We observed fractional Fe solubility up to 12% in mixed aerosols. Thus, Fe in dust may be more soluble in the tropics compared to higher latitudes due to higher concentrations of biomass-burning-derived reactive organic species in the atmosphere. In addition, biomass-burning-derived particles can act as a surface for aerosol Fe to bind during atmospheric transport and subsequently be released to the ocean upon deposition. As the aerosol loading is dominated by biomass burning emissions over the tropical waters in the dry season, additions of biomass-burning-derived soluble Fe could have harmful consequences for initiating nitrogen-fixing toxic algal blooms. Future research is required to quantify biomass-burning-derived particle sources of soluble Fe over tropical waters. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:12:32Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-58335 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:12:32Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Copernicus GmbH |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-583352022-11-23T07:49:08Z Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia Winton, V. Edwards, Peter Bowie, A. Keywood, M. Williams, A. Chambers, S. Selleck, P. Desservettaz, M. Mallet, M. Paton-Walsh, C. © Author(s) 2016.Marine nitrogen fixation is co-limited by the supply of iron (Fe) and phosphorus in large regions of the global ocean. The deposition of soluble aerosol Fe can initiate nitrogen fixation and trigger toxic algal blooms in nitrate-poor tropical waters. We present dry season soluble Fe data from the Savannah Fires in the Early Dry Season (SAFIRED) campaign in northern Australia that reflects coincident dust and biomass burning sources of soluble aerosol Fe. The mean soluble and total aerosol Fe concentrations were 40 and 500 ng m-3 respectively. Our results show that while biomass burning species may not be a direct source of soluble Fe, biomass burning may substantially enhance the solubility of mineral dust. We observed fractional Fe solubility up to 12% in mixed aerosols. Thus, Fe in dust may be more soluble in the tropics compared to higher latitudes due to higher concentrations of biomass-burning-derived reactive organic species in the atmosphere. In addition, biomass-burning-derived particles can act as a surface for aerosol Fe to bind during atmospheric transport and subsequently be released to the ocean upon deposition. As the aerosol loading is dominated by biomass burning emissions over the tropical waters in the dry season, additions of biomass-burning-derived soluble Fe could have harmful consequences for initiating nitrogen-fixing toxic algal blooms. Future research is required to quantify biomass-burning-derived particle sources of soluble Fe over tropical waters. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58335 10.5194/acp-16-12829-2016 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100029 Copernicus GmbH unknown |
| spellingShingle | Winton, V. Edwards, Peter Bowie, A. Keywood, M. Williams, A. Chambers, S. Selleck, P. Desservettaz, M. Mallet, M. Paton-Walsh, C. Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia |
| title | Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia |
| title_full | Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia |
| title_fullStr | Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia |
| title_short | Dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern Australia |
| title_sort | dry season aerosol iron solubility in tropical northern australia |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100029 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58335 |