Atmospheric input of inorganic nitrogen to the Western Mediterranean

Loÿe-Pilot, Marie-Dominique; Martin, Jean Marie; Morelli, J.

doi:10.1007/bf00692168

Cited by 83 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Moreover, horizontal advection has been shown to be weak in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (i.e., Andersen and Prieur, 2000). The upwelling of dissolved elements from depth is thus reduced during the stratified period, and the atmosphere becomes the main pathway for supply to the surface layer of both dissolved N (as shown, for example, during the BOUM cruise in the western Mediterranean; Moutin and Prieur, 2012), P (e.g., Loÿe-Pilot et al, 1990;Bergametti et al, 1992;Migon and Sandroni 1999;Kouvarakis et al, 2001;Ridame and Guieu, 2002;Markaki et al, 2003;Krom et al, 2004) and Fe (Guieu et al, 2002a, Bonnet andGuieu, 2006). Using Quétel's (1991) data, Dulac et al (1996) illustrate the strong impact of a Saharan dust deposition event on the particulate Fe concentration profile in the surface layer at the DYFAMED station in the northwestern Mediterranean.…”

Section: Context and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to project DUNE, a DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chlorophyll Ecosystem

et al. 2014

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International audienceThe main goal of project DUNE was to estimate the impact of atmospheric deposition on an oligotrophic ecosystem based on mesocosm experiments simulating strong atmospheric inputs of eolian mineral dust. Our mesocosm experiments aimed at being representative of real atmospheric deposition events onto the surface of oligotrophic marine waters and were an original attempt to consider the vertical dimension after atmospheric deposition at the sea surface. This introductory paper describes the objectives of DUNE and the implementation plan of a series of mesocosm experiments conducted in the Mediterranean Sea in 2008 and 2010 during which either wet or dry and a succession of two wet deposition fluxes of 10 g m^-2 of Saharan dust have been simulated based on the production of dust analogs from erodible soils of a source region. After the presentation of the main biogeochemical initial conditions of the site at the time of each experiment, a general overview of the papers published in this special issue is presented. From laboratory results on the solubility of trace elements in dust to biogeochemical results from the mesocosm experiments and associated modeling, these papers describe how the strong simulated dust deposition events impacted the marine biogeochemistry. Those multidisciplinary results are bringing new insights into the role of atmospheric deposition on oligotrophic ecosystems and its impact on the carbon budget. The dissolved trace metals with crustal origin - Mn, Al and Fe - showed different behaviors as a function of time after the seeding. The increase in dissolved Mn and Al concentrations was attributed to dissolution processes. The observed decrease in dissolved Fe was due to scavenging on sinking dust particles and aggregates. When a second dust seeding followed, a dissolution of Fe from the dust particles was then observed due to the excess Fe binding ligand concentrations present at that time. Calcium nitrate and sulfate were formed in the dust analog for wet deposition following evapocondensation with acids for simulating cloud processing by polluted air masses under anthropogenic influence. Using a number of particulate tracers that were followed in the water column and in the sediment traps, it was shown that the dust composition evolves after seeding by total dissolution of these salts. This provided a large source of new dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the surface waters. In spite of this dissolution, the typical inter-elemental ratios in the particulate matter, such as Ti / Al or Ba / Al, are not affected during the dust settling, confirming their values as proxies of lithogenic fluxes or of productivity in sediment traps. DUNE experiments have clearly shown the potential for Saharan wet deposition to modify the in situ concentrations of dissolved elements of biogeochemical interest such as Fe and also P and N. Indeed, wet deposition yielded a transient increase in dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) followed by a very rapid return to initial condition...

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Section: Context and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to project DUNE, a DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chlorophyll Ecosystem

et al. 2014

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“…Data for the WMED and EMED are listed in Table 3.1. -PILOT et al, 1990a;b: MIGON et al, 1989;c: LOŸE-PILOT et al, 1990b;d: GUERZONI et al, 1993;e: LE BOLLOCH and GUERZONI, 1995;f: HERUT and KROM, 1996). (HERUT and KROM, 1996), the value for the whole Mediterranean being between 50 and 80 µmol Nm -2 d -1 (LOŸE-PILOT et al, 1990a).…”

Section: Atmospheric Inputs Of Nitrogen To the Mediterraneanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the entire WMED is considered (LOŸE-PILOT et al, 1990b), then atmospheric input -derived from field data -is probably higher than that of rivers. Atmospheric input of N (1084x10 3 tons yr -1…”

Section: Atmospheric Versus Riverine Inputs Of Nitrogen In the Meditementioning

confidence: 99%

The role of atmospheric deposition in the biogeochemistry of the Mediterranean Sea

Guerzoni

Chester

Dulac

et al. 1999

Progress in Oceanography

394

269

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Estimates of atmospheric inputs to the Mediterranean (MED) and some coastal areas are reviewed, and uncertainities in these estimates considered. Both the magnitude and the mineralogical composition of atmospheric dust inputs indicate that eolian deposition is an important (50%) or prevailing (>80%) contribution to sediments in the offshore waters of the entire Guerzoni et al.,"The role of atmospheric deposition in the biogeochemistry of the Mediterranean Sea"2 Mediterranean (MED) basin. Model data for trace metals and nutrients indicate that the atmosphere delivers more than half the lead and nitrogen, one-third of total phosphorus, and 10% of the zinc entering the entire basin. Measured data in sub-basins, such as the north-western MED and northern Adriatic indicate an even greater proportion of atmospheric versus riverine inputs.When dissolved fluxes are compared (the form most likely to impinge on surface water biogeochemical cycles), the atmosphere is found to be 5 to 50 times more important than rivers for dissolved Zn and 15 to 30 times more important for Pb fluxes.Neglecting co-limitation by other nutrients, new production supported by atmospheric nitrogen deposition ranges from 2-4 g C m -2 yr -1 , whereas atmospheric phosphorus deposition appears to support less than 1 g C m -2 yr -1 . In spite of the apparently small contribution of atmospheric deposition to overall production in the basin it has been suggested that certain episodes of phytoplankton blooms are triggered by atmospheric deposition of N, P or Fe. Future studies are needed to clarify the extent and causal links between these episodic blooms and atmospheric/oceanographic forcing functions. A scientific program aimed at elucidating the possible biogeochemical effects of Saharan outbreaks in the MED through direct sampling of the ocean and atmosphere before and after such events is therefore highly recommended.

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“…Extrapolating this figure to the total western Mediterranean basin area (840,000 km 2 ) yields an average total atmospheric flux of 10.9  0.6 x 10 12 g/a (Bergametti et al, 1989a(Bergametti et al, , 1989bLoÿe-Pilot et al, 1989). The most important source areas of Saharan dust are located in the Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal, northern Mali, Atlas Mountains through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, central and eastern Libya, western Chad (Bodélé depression), southern Egypt, and northern Sudan (Molinaroli, 1996;Moreno et al, 2006;Laurent et al, 2008;Stuut et al, 2009;Scheuvens et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiogenic isotopes for deciphering terrigenous input provenance in the western Mediterranean

et al. 2015

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Atmospheric input of inorganic nitrogen to the Western Mediterranean

Cited by 83 publications

References 28 publications

Introduction to project DUNE, a DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chlorophyll Ecosystem

Introduction to project DUNE, a DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chlorophyll Ecosystem

The role of atmospheric deposition in the biogeochemistry of the Mediterranean Sea

Radiogenic isotopes for deciphering terrigenous input provenance in the western Mediterranean

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