. 24/7 Space News .
ICE WORLD
Study offers solution to Ice Age ocean chemistry puzzle
by Staff Writers
Hobart, Australia (SPX) Oct 11, 2019

file illustration only

New research into the chemistry of the oceans during ice ages is helping to solve a puzzle that has engaged scientists for more than two decades.

At issue is how much of the CO2 that entered the ocean during ice ages can be attributed to the 'biological pump', where atmospheric carbon is absorbed by phytoplankton and sequestered to the seafloor as organisms die and sink.

Solving the puzzle is important to improve the accuracy of climate models and inform understanding of how ocean processes may react to future climate change.

Led by IMAS and University of Liverpool scientists and published in Nature Communications, the study found ice age phytoplankton in the tropics absorbed high levels of CO2 due to fertilisation by iron-rich dust blowing into the ocean.

Lead author Dr Pearse Buchanan said that until now models had only been able to explain a portion of the CO2 that entered ice age oceans via the biological pump.

"During past ice ages, carbon levels were lower in the atmosphere and higher in the oceans than today, but scientific models aren't able to account for all of the additional CO2 that entered the ocean," Dr Buchanan said.

"The leading hypothesis has been that iron-rich dust blown from glacial landscapes stimulated phytoplankton growth in high latitudes, but this only explained around one-third of the extra CO2 absorbed through the biological pump: the other two-thirds was effectively 'missing'.

"We used an ocean model to look at the response to iron rich dust of phytoplankton in tropical waters, particularly a group of phytoplankton called "nitrogen fixers".

"These are able to biochemically 'fix' nitrogen from the atmosphere, much like nitrogen fixing bacteria that help legume crops thrive in nutrient poor soil.

"Marine nitrogen fixers are known to be important in the marine nitrogen cycle, and now we've shown they're also critically important in the marine carbon cycle.

"When we added iron to our ocean model, nitrogen fixers thrived, and their growth and subsequent sinking to the deep ocean can account for much of the missing CO2," Dr Buchanan said.

IMAS Associate Professor Zanna Chase said this solution was first proposed in 1997 but had gained little traction over the last two decades.

"The beauty of this approach is that it can explain almost all of the additional CO2 that phytoplankton transported into the oceans during the last Ice Age," Associate Professor Chase said.

"The increased activity of the biological pump in the tropics complemented that happening in colder waters, drawing higher levels of CO2 into the oceans and locking it away in the deep ocean.

"This pathway for carbon to the deep ocean is reduced today because less fertilising iron is being circulated by the wind and phytoplankton growth, including that of nitrogen fixers, is correspondingly limited, although there are signs that it has strengthened within the Pacific since the industrial revolution.

"Taking account of these links between the cycles of iron, nitrogen and carbon in our ocean and climate change models will make them better able to explain ocean processes and predict future changes.

"But how iron fertilisation of phytoplankton will evolve is currently uncertain, undermining our ability to predict the ocean's role in drawing CO2 out of the atmosphere in the coming centuries," Associate Professor Chase said.

Research paper


Related Links
University of Tasmania
Beyond the Ice Age


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


ICE WORLD
Laser precision: NASA Flights, satellite align over sea ice
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 04, 2019
The skies were clear, the winds were low, and the lasers aligned. In April, instruments aboard NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign and the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 succeeded in measuring the same Arctic sea ice at the same time, a tricky feat given the shifting sea ice. Scientists have now analyzed airborne and spaceborne height measurements, and found that the two datasets match almost exactly, demonstrating how precisely ICESat-2 can measure the heights of the sea ice's bumpy ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

ICE WORLD
Astronauts grow 'space meat' but admit taste 'needs to be improved'

The first humans in space

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, crewmates return safely from ISS

First Arab on ISS returns to Earth

ICE WORLD
Space Launch System mock up arrives at Kennedy for testing

Artemis Generation takes on NASA Student Launch: 64 teams to compete

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to blast off in 2021 with private lunar lander

Italy signs first ever agreement with Virgin to launch suborbital research missions

ICE WORLD
Global analysis of submarine canyons may shed light on Martian landscapes

InSight 'hears' peculiar sounds on Mars

A fresh attempt for the first 'Mole' on Mars

Far out: Bosnian village tickled to share name with Mars crater

ICE WORLD
China's KZ-1A rocket launches two satellites

China's newly launched communication satellite suffers abnormality

China launches first private rocket capable of carrying satellites

Chinese scientists say goodbye to Tiangong-2

ICE WORLD
Talking space with the next generation in Europe

Playmobil go above and beyond with ESA's Luca Parmitano

NewSpace will eliminate sun-synchronous orbits

Australian Government commits to join NASA in Lunar exploration and beyond

ICE WORLD
German chemical industry sketches costly carbon-neutral path

Astroscale and Southampton jointly advance business case for active debris removal services

ESA selects AdaCore's qualified multitasking solution for spacecraft software development

Scientists develop unique orbital cleaner

ICE WORLD
Were hot, humid summers the key to life's origins?

A planet that should not exist

Many gas giant exoplanets waiting to be discovered

Giant exoplanet around tiny star challenges understanding of how planets form

ICE WORLD
NASA's Juno prepares to jump Jupiter's shadow

Huge Volcano on Jupiter's Moon Io Erupts on Regular Schedule

Stony-iron meteoroid caused August impact flash at Jupiter

Storms on Jupiter are disturbing the planet's colorful belts









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.