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Biomass burning as a source of dissolved iron to the open ocean?
Author(s) -
Guieu Cécile,
Bonnet Sophie,
Wagener Thibaut,
LoÿePilot MarieDominique
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl022962
Subject(s) - environmental science , seawater , mediterranean sea , mediterranean climate , water column , aerosol , oceanography , biomass burning , environmental chemistry , atmospheric sciences , climatology , geology , meteorology , chemistry , geography , archaeology
While the Mediterranean region is typified by frequent summer fires, the 2003 heat wave that hit Europe, and France in particular, made this season longer causing devastating fires. Aerosol sampling performed in the French Riviera between August and September 2003 indicated that iron concentrations in 2003 were significantly higher than in previous years. Continuous pyrogenic emissions are suspected to be the cause of high Fe concentrations. When these particles were dissolved in seawater, 2% of the total iron content was found in solution. This amount could be significant for the water column on a regional scale. Indeed, these fires might explain the observed dissolved iron enrichment of the surface mixed layer (+0.4 nM) measured in the Ligurian Sea during August. In contrast to a locally significant effect, pyrogenic inputs have little impact on the global Fe budget since they represent at most 10% of desert dust inputs.