Fertilization of the ocean by adding iron compounds has induced diatom-dominated phytoplankton blooms accompanied by considerable carbon dioxide drawdown in the ocean surface layer. However, because the fate of bloom biomass could not be adequately resolved in these experiments, the timescales of carbon sequestration from the atmosphere are uncertain. Here we report the results of a five-week experiment carried out in the closed core of a vertically coherent, mesoscale eddy of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, during which we tracked sinking particles from the surface to the deep-sea floor. A large diatom bloom peaked in the fourth week after fertilization. This was followed by mass mortality of several diatom species that formed rapidly sinking, mucilaginous aggregates of entangled cells and chains. Taken together, multiple lines of evidence-although each with important uncertainties-lead us to conclude that at least half the bloom biomass sank far below a depth of 1,000 metres and that a substantial portion is likely to have reached the sea floor. Thus, iron-fertilized diatom blooms may sequester carbon for timescales of centuries in ocean bottom water and for longer in the sediments.

Diatoms of the iron-replete continental margins and North Atlantic are key exporters of organic carbon. In contrast, diatoms of the iron-limited Antarctic Circumpolar Current sequester silicon, but comparatively little carbon, in the underlying deep ocean and sediments. Because the Southern Ocean is the major hub of oceanic nutrient distribution, selective silicon sequestration there limits diatom blooms elsewhere and consequently the biotic carbon sequestration potential of the entire ocean. We investigated this paradox in an in situ iron fertilization experiment by comparing accumulation and sinking of diatom populations inside and outside the iron-fertilized patch over 5 wk. A bloom comprising various thin-and thick-shelled diatom species developed inside the patch despite the presence of large grazer populations. After the third week, most of the thinner-shelled diatom species underwent mass mortality, formed large, mucous aggregates, and sank out en masse (carbon sinkers). In contrast, thicker-shelled species, in particular Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, persisted in the surface layers, sank mainly empty shells continuously, and reduced silicate concentrations to similar levels both inside and outside the patch (silica sinkers). These patterns imply that thick-shelled, hence grazer-protected, diatom species evolved in response to heavy copepod grazing pressure in the presence of an abundant silicate supply. The ecology of these silica-sinking species decouples silicon and carbon cycles in the iron-limited Southern Ocean, whereas carbon-sinking species, when stimulated by iron fertilization, export more carbon per silicon. Our results suggest that large-scale iron fertilization of the silicate-rich Southern Ocean will not change silicon sequestration but will add carbon to the sinking silica flux.evolutionary arms race | top-down control | geo-engineering

[1] In April 2001 four hydrographic sections perpendicular to the southern East Madagascar Current were surveyed as part of the Agulhas Current Sources Experiment. Observations with a vessel mounted and a lowered ADCP produced information on the current field while temperature, salinity, oxygen and nutrient data obtained with a CTDRosette system, gave information on the water mass structure of the currents southeast of Madagascar. The peak velocity in the pole-ward East Madagascar Current through these four sections had a typical magnitude of $110 cm/s, while the width of this current was of the order of 120 km. The mean pole-ward volume transport rate of this current during the survey above the 5°C isotherm was estimated to be 37 ± 10 Sv. On all four sections an undercurrent was observed at intermediate depths below the East Madagascar Current. Its equator-ward transport rate amounted to 2.8 ± 1.4 Sv. Offshore of the East Madagascar Current the shallow South Indian Ocean Countercurrent was observed. This eastward frontal jet coincided with the barotropic and thermohaline front that separates the saline Subtropical Surface Water from the fresher Tropical Surface Water in the East Madagascar Current. The near-surface geostrophic flow of the East Madagascar Current, derived from satellite altimetry data from 1992 to 2005, suggests a strong variability of this transport due to eddy variability and interannual changes. The long-term pole-ward mean transport of the East Madagascar Current, roughly estimated from those altimetry data amounts to 32 Sv. The upper-ocean water mass of the East Madagascar Current was very saline in 2001, compared to WOCE surveys from 1995. Comparison of our undercurrent data with those of the WOCE surveys in 1995 confirms that the undercurrent is a recurrent feature. Its water mass properties are relatively saline, due to the presence of water originating from the Red Sea outflow at intermediate levels. The saline water was advected from the Mozambique Channel to the eastern slope of Madagascar.

Hydrographic sections were conducted south of Madagascar during the Agulhas Current Sources EXperiment (ACSEX‐2) cruise survey in March 2001. The East Madagascar Current (EMC), presumably one of the sources of the Agulhas Current, was crossed four times over the Madagascar ridge. The upwelling cell, at the southeastern tip of Madagascar (inshore of the EMC), was hydrographically highlighted for the very first time during ACSEX‐2. The behavior of the EMC south of Madagascar is studied using both hydrographic data and satellite imagery. At the southeastern end of Madagascar, the EMC turns westward and the dramatic change in the shape of the shelf favours the development of a cyclonic eddy that is embedded between the EMC core and the coast. The upwelling is then associated to the presence of this eddy and to wind favorable conditions.

We measured the vertical water column distribution of nitrous oxide (N2O) during the European Iron Fertilization Experiment (EIFEX) in the subpolar South Atlantic Ocean during February/March 2004 (R/V Polarstern cruise ANT XXI/3). Despite a huge build‐up and sedimentation of a phytoplankton bloom, a comparison of the N2O concentrations within the fertilized patch with concentrations measured outside the fertilized patch revealed no N2O accumulation within 33 days. This is in contrast to a previous study in the Southern Ocean, where enhanced N2O accumulation occurred in the pycnocline. Thus, we conclude that Fe fertilization does not necessarily trigger additional N2O formation and we caution that a predicted radiative offset due to a Fe‐induced additional release of oceanic N2O might be overestimated. Rapid sedimentation events during EIFEX might have hindered the build‐up of N2O and suggest, that not only the production of phytoplankton biomass but also its pathway in the water column needs to be considered if N2O radiative offset is modeled.

[1] The Southern Ocean (SO) plays a key role in modulating atmospheric CO 2 via physical and biological processes. However, over much of the SO, biological activity is iron-limited. New in situ data from the Antarctic zone south of Africa in a region centered at ∼20°E-25°E reveal a previously overlooked region of high primary production, comparable in size to the northwest African upwelling region. Here, sea ice together with enclosed icebergs is channeled by prevailing winds to the eastern boundary of the Weddell Gyre, where a sharp transition to warmer waters causes melting. This cumulative melting provides a steady source of iron, fuelling an intense phytoplankton bloom that is not fully captured by monthly satellite production estimates. These findings imply that future changes in sea-ice cover and dynamics could have a significant effect on carbon sequestration in the SO.

[1] Surface d 15 N PON increased 3.92 ± 0.48‰ over the course of 20 days following additions of iron (Fe) to an eddy in close proximity to the Antarctic Polar Front in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. The change in d 15 N PON was associated with an increase in the >20 mm size fraction, leading to a maximal difference of 6.23‰ between the >20 mm and <20 mm size fractions. Surface d 13 C POC increased 1.18 ± 0.31‰ over the same period. After a decrease in particulate organic matter in the surface layer, a second phytoplankton community developed that accumulated less biomass, had a slower growth rate and was characterized by an offset of 1.56‰ in d 13 C POC relative to the first community. During growth of the second community, surface d 13 C POC further increased 0.83 ± 0.13‰. Here we speculate on ways that carboxylation, nitrogen assimilation, substrate pool enrichment and community composition may have contributed to the gradual increase in d 13 C POC associated with phytoplankton biomass accumulation, as well as the systematic offset in d 13 C POC between the two phytoplankton communities.

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