Abstract. Trace element deposition from desert dust has important impacts on ocean primary productivity, the quantification of which could be useful in determining the magnitude and sign of the biogeochemical feedback on radiative forcing. However, the impact of elemental deposition to remote ocean regions is not well understood and is not currently included in global climate models. In this study, emission inventories for eight elements primarily of soil origin, Mg, P, Ca, Mn, Fe, K, Al, and Si are determined based on a global mineral data set and a soil data set. The resulting elemental fractions are used to drive the desert dust model in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) in order to simulate the elemental concentrations of atmospheric dust. Spatial variability of mineral dust elemental fractions is evident on a global scale, particularly for Ca. Simulations of global variations in the Ca / Al ratio, which typically range from around 0.1 to 5.0 in soils, are consistent with observations, suggesting that this ratio is a good signature for dust source regions. The simulated variable fractions of chemical elements are sufficiently different; estimates of deposition should include elemental variations, especially for Ca, Al and Fe. The model results have been evaluated with observations of elemental aerosol concentrations from desert regions and dust events in non-dust regions, providing insights into uncertainties in the modeling approach. The ratios between modeled and observed elemental fractions range from 0.7 to 1.6, except for Mg and Mn (3.4 and 3.5, respectively). Using the soil database improves the correspondence of the spatial heterogeneity in the modeling of several elements (Ca, Al and Fe) compared to observations. Total and soluble dust element fluxes to different ocean basins and ice sheet regions have been estimated, based on the model results. The annual inputs of soluble Mg, P, Ca, Mn, Fe and K associated with dust using the mineral data set are 0.30 Tg, 16.89 Gg, 1.32 Tg, 22.84 Gg, 0.068 Tg, and 0.15 Tg to global oceans and ice sheets.
Atmospheric deposition can affect marine phytoplankton by supplying macronutrients and trace elements. We conducted mesocosm experiments by adding aerosols with different composition (dominated by mineral dust, biomass burning and high Cu, and secondary aerosol, respectively) to the surface seawater of the East China Sea. Chlorophyll a concentrations were found to be the highest and lowest after adding aerosols containing the highest Fe and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), respectively. The relative abundance of Haptophyceae increased significantly after adding mineral dust, whereas diatom, Dinophyceae and Cryptophyceae reached the maximum accompanied with the highest DIN. Our results suggest that Fe may be more important than DIN in promoting primary productivity in the sampled seawater. The input of mineral dust and anthropogenic aerosols may result in distinct changes of phytoplankton community structure.
Abstract. Trace element deposition from desert dust has important impacts on ocean primary productivity. In this study, emission inventories for 8 elements, which are primarily of soil origin, Mg, P, Ca, Mn, Fe, K, Al, and Si were determined based on a global mineral dataset and a soils dataset. Datasets of elemental fractions were used to drive the desert dust model in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) in order to simulate the elemental concentrations of atmospheric dust. Spatial variability of mineral dust elemental fractions was evident on a global scale, particularly for Ca. Simulations of global variations in the Ca / Al ratio, which typically ranged from around 0.1 to 5.0 in soil sources, were consistent with observations, suggesting this ratio to be a good signature for dust source regions. The simulated variable fractions of chemical elements are sufficiently different that estimates of deposition should include elemental variations, especially for Ca, Al and Fe. The model results have been evaluated with observational elemental aerosol concentration data from desert regions and dust events in non-dust regions, providing insights into uncertainties in the modeling approach. The ratios between modeled and observed elemental fractions ranged from 0.7 to 1.6 except for 3.4 and 3.5 for Mg and Mn, respectivly. Using the soil data base improved the correspondence of the spatial hetereogeneity in the modeling of several elements (Ca, Al and Fe) compared to observations. Total and soluble dust associated element fluxes into different ocean basins and ice sheets regions have been estimated, based on the model results. Annual inputs of soluble Mg, P, Ca, Mn, Fe and K associated with dust using mineral dataset were 0.28 Tg, 16.89 Gg, 1.32 Tg, 22.84 Gg, 0.068 Tg, and 0.15 Tg to global oceans and ice sheets.
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