Theme 3 team
Team leaders
Team members
Main sources, cycling, processes, and species relating to Core Theme 3 (processes are indicated in italics).
Research questions
Priorities
Planned activities
With the increase of trace metal surveys in all ocean basins, we now have a better understanding of the nutrient flows and it is clear the importance of not only oceanic Fe sources but also those of atmospheric origin. Therefore , a coherent explanation for the biological response to input nutrients needs knowledge of both atmospheric and oceanic inputs of Fe. This subject is the core theme of SCOR Working Group 151 FeMIP.
SCOR WG 151: https://scor-int.org/group/151/
Current national and international programs investigating atmospheric deposition and ocean biogeochemistry include the “Impact of atmospheric multi-stressors to coastal marine systems in a changing climate scenario” (AMBIEnCE) and the Tudor Hill Marine-Atmospheric Observatory. Information on planned observational programs and work-shops can be found via the respective program websites:
Because of the overlapping nature of many SOLAS and GEOTRACES activities, closer interactions between the two organizations are being pursued, particularly in the area of atmospheric and water column sampling, where each program has different strategies and different overall goals. A first attempt to bring the two communities together towards coordinating common goals and protocols resulted in a recent publication (Meshkidze et al., 2020, Perspective on identifying and characterizing the processes controlling iron speciation and residence time at the atmosphere-ocean interface, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2019.103704).
Given the recent discovery of dust deposition in the NE Pacific from North American sources and the large volume of research output from the East Asian community on the subject of aerosol deposition, the team leaders recommend investigating whether there is US and Asian interest for a joint study focusing on aerosol transport and deposition in the North Pacific. The team leaders will contact individual key scientists on both sides of the Pacific and evaluate if there is interest for a coordinated initiative. The topic session “Atmospheric nutrient deposition and microbial community responses, and predictions for the future in the North Pacific Ocean” was accepted for the PICES-2020 and -2021 annual meetings.