In a new research study published May 5 in the journal Science, a team of scientists from Oregon State University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and NASA combined satellite observations with an advanced computer system design to home in on how mineral dust from land fertilizes the development of phytoplankton in the ocean. Phytoplankton are microscopic, plant-like organisms that form the center of the marine food web.
Phytoplankton float near the ocean surface mainly surviving on sunlight and mineral nutrients that well up from the depths or float out to sea in seaside overflow. However mineral-rich desert dust– borne by strong winds and transferred in the ocean– also plays a crucial role in the health and abundance of phytoplankton.
This image, obtained on April 8, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite, reveals Saharan dust over the Bay of Biscay. A phytoplankton bloom in the bay makes the water appear intense green and blue. Sediment is likely adding to a few of the color, especially in locations closer to the shore.
According to the new research study, dust deposition onto the ocean supports about 4.5 percent of yearly worldwide export production– a measure of how much of the carbon phytoplankton use up throughout photosynthesis sinks into the deep ocean. This contribution approaches 20 percent to 40 percent in some ocean areas at middle and higher latitudes.
Phytoplankton play a large function in Earths climate and carbon cycle. Like land plants, they consist of chlorophyll and derive energy from sunshine through photosynthesis. They produce oxygen and sequester an incredible quantity of co2 at the same time, possibly on a scale comparable to jungles. And they are at the bottom of an ocean-wide food pecking order that varies from small zooplankton to fish to whales.
Dust particles can travel thousands of miles before falling under the ocean, where they nurture phytoplankton long ranges from the dust source, said study coauthor Lorraine Remer, a research teacher at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. “We understood that climatic transport of desert dust becomes part of what makes the ocean click, but we didnt understand how to discover it,” she said.
To learn how researchers tracked ocean biology from 400 miles above the surface area of Earth, checked out the complete story here.
Recommendation: “Atmospheric nutrition of global ocean environments” by T. K. Westberry, M. J. Behrenfeld, Y. R. Shi, H. Yu, L. A. Remer and H. Bian, 4 May 2023, Science.DOI: 10.1126/ science.abq5252.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Sally Younger/NASAs Earth Science News Team, with Michael Carlowicz.
This image, acquired on April 8, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASAs Terra satellite, shows Saharan dust over the Bay of Biscay. A phytoplankton flower in the bay makes the water appear brilliant green and blue. Phytoplankton play a large role in Earths climate and carbon cycle. They produce oxygen and sequester a significant quantity of carbon dioxide in the procedure, possibly on a scale similar to rain forests.
NASAs Terra satellite acquired this image of Saharan dust over the Bay of Biscay on April 8, 2011, utilizing its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer.
Scientists have actually discovered that even modest quantities of desert dust can enhance the health of the oceans tiny, plant-like organisms.
A brand-new study reveals that land-based mineral dust plays a crucial role in fertilizing oceanic phytoplankton, which are necessary to Earths climate, carbon cycle, and marine food web.
For the previous few decades, researchers have been observing natural ocean fertilization events– episodes when plumes of volcanic ash, glacial flour, wildfire soot, and desert dust blow out onto the sea surface and spur enormous blooms of phytoplankton. Beyond these severe events, there is a stable, long-distance rain of dust particles onto the ocean that promotes phytoplankton development just about all year and in almost every basin.