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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
An Iron-Based Ecosystem Model Of The Central Equatorial Pacific, Carrie L. Leonard, Charles R. Mcclain, Ragu Murtugudde, Eileen E. Hofmann, Lawrence W. Harding Jr.
An Iron-Based Ecosystem Model Of The Central Equatorial Pacific, Carrie L. Leonard, Charles R. Mcclain, Ragu Murtugudde, Eileen E. Hofmann, Lawrence W. Harding Jr.
CCPO Publications
The central and eastern equatorial Pacific region is characterized by lower than expected phytoplankton biomass and primary production given the relatively high ambient nitrate concentrations. These unusual conditions have spawned several field programs and laboratory experiments to determine why this high nitrate-low chlorophyll pattern persists in this region. To synthesize the results from these field programs, as well as providing additional evidence in support of the iron hypothesis, we developed a one-dimensional, nine-component ecosystem model of 0 degrees N 140 degrees W. The model components include two phytoplankton size fractions, two zooplankton size fractions, two detrital size fractions, dissolved iron, …
Limitation Of Algal Growth By Iron Deficiency In The Australian Subantarctic Region, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio, David A. Hutchins, Philip W. Boyd, F. Brian Griffiths, A. Clive Crossley, Thomas W. Trull, Bernard Queguiner
Limitation Of Algal Growth By Iron Deficiency In The Australian Subantarctic Region, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio, David A. Hutchins, Philip W. Boyd, F. Brian Griffiths, A. Clive Crossley, Thomas W. Trull, Bernard Queguiner
OES Faculty Publications
In March 1998 we measured iron in the upper water column and conducted iron- and nutrient-enrichment bottle-incubation experiments in the open-ocean Subantarctic region southwest of Tasmania, Australia. In the Subtropical Convergence Zone (∼42°S, 142°E), silicic acid concentrations were low (< 1.5μM) in the upper water column, whereas pronounced vertical gradients in dissolved iron concentration (0.12-0.84 nM) were observed., presumably reflecting the interleaving of Subtropical and Subantarctic waters, and mineral aerosol input. Results of a bottle-incubation experiment performed at this location indicate that phytoplankton growth rates were limited by iron deficiency within the iron-poor layer of the euphotic zone. In the Subantarctic water mass (∼46.8°S, 142°E), low concentrations of dissolved iron (0.05-0.11nM) and silicic acid (< 1μM) were measured throughout the upper water column, and our experimental results indicate that algal growth was limited by iron deficiency. These observations suggest that availability of dissolved iron is a primary factor limiting phytoplankton growth over much of the Subantarctic Southern Ocean in the late summer and autumn.