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Article
Gulf Stream Rings as a Source of Iron to the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre
Nature Geoscience
  • Tim M. Conway, University of South Florida
  • Jaime B. Palter, University of Rhode Island
  • Gregory F. de Souza, ETH Zurich
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0162-0
Disciplines
Abstract

Substantial amounts of nitrogen fixation occur in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, due to the activity of cyanobacteria with high iron requirements. Iron is delivered to this region by dust from the Sahara Desert. However, this dust deposition is typically localized and episodic. Therefore, other sources of iron may also be important. Here, we report observations of dissolved iron concentrations in a Gulf Stream cold-core ring, which transported iron-rich water from near the continental slope into the subtropical gyre. We find that iron concentrations were elevated in the ring compared with subtropical waters, reflecting its source waters. Using iron data from these source waters and the identification of ring activity in satellite data, we estimate that cold-core rings provide a net flux of 0.3 ± 0.17 × 108 mol Fe yr−1 across the northwestern gyre edge, on the order of 15% of our median estimates of gyre-wide supply of iron by dust deposition. We suggest that iron supply from cold-core rings is an important source of iron to the northwestern gyre edge. We conclude that mesoscale ocean circulation features may play an important role in subtropical nutrient and carbon cycling.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Nature Geoscience, v. 11, p. 594-598

Citation Information
Tim M. Conway, Jaime B. Palter and Gregory F. de Souza. "Gulf Stream Rings as a Source of Iron to the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre" Nature Geoscience Vol. 11 (2018) p. 594 - 598
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tim-conway/4/