Reply #12: Ugh - a short tutorial FYI

[jpak]

The Southern Ocean is rich in macro-nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon, but poor in iron which limits phytoplankton utilization of N, P and Si.

Adding iron to iron-poor waters stimulates phytoplankton production which draws down N, P and Si concentrations - this has been demonstrated time and time again in mesoscale Fe enrichment experiments.

That's how these schemes are supposed to work: add iron -> stimulate primary production -> which sinks -> and sequesters carbon in deep ocean.

Because the rest of the ecosystem (grazers and bacteria) rapidly responds to the increase in phytoplankton production, virtually all that enhanced primary production is remineralized back to CO2 before it sinks below the thermocline.

It . doesn't . work.

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