A Natural Iron Fertilization Mechanism from the Deep Sea

February 10, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

The amount of iron released to the ocean by hydrothermal venting at the seafloor is approximately equal to all of the iron flushed from the continents by rivers. The importance of iron to aquatic life can be compared to the importance of nitrogen to terrestrial life, yet iron remains a limiting nutrient in most parts of the oceans. A new study of iron within hydrothermal vents shows that iron emitted from the vents can bind to organic particles and be distributed within the oceans. This bound iron doesn’t oxidize, and is much more easily processed by living organisms, thus affecting the potential for a “natural iron fertilization mechanism.”

The study is published in the current issue of Nature Geoscience, and the lead author is former NAI Postdoctoral Fellow Brandy Toner, now at the University of Minnesota. Co-authors include members of NAI’s Emeritus team at the Marine Biological Laboratory.