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

Guerzoni, Stefano; Chester, R.; Dulac, François; Herut, Barak; Loÿe-Pilot, Marie-Dominique; Measures, C.I.; Migon, Christophe; Molinaroli, Emanuela; Moulin, C.; Rossini, Paolo; Saydam, C.; Soudine, Alexandre; Ziveri, Patrizia

doi:10.1016/s0079-6611(99)00024-5

Cited by 391 publications

(325 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…1) receives some of the highest fluxes of atmospheric aerosols from natural and anthropogenic sources (14,15). The Sahara desert in Africa is the major source of natural aerosols to the Mediterranean and the main external source of nutrients for the sea's surface waters during summer (14).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copper aerosols inhibit phytoplankton growth in the Mediterranean Sea

Jordi

Basterretxea

Tovar-Sánchez

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

125

103

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Aerosol deposition plays an important role in climate and biogeochemical cycles by supplying nutrients to the open ocean, in turn stimulating ocean productivity and carbon sequestration. Aerosol particles also contain elements such as copper (Cu) that are essential in trace amounts for phytoplankton physiology but that can be toxic at high concentrations. Although the toxicity of Cu associated with aerosols has been demonstrated in bioassay experiments, extrapolation of these laboratory results to natural conditions is not straightforward. This study provides observational evidence of the negative effect of aerosols containing high Cu concentrations on marine phytoplankton over a vast region of the western Mediterranean Sea. Direct aerosol measurements were combined with satellite observations, resulting in the detection of significant declines in phytoplankton biomass after atmospheric aerosol events characterized by high Cu concentrations. The declines were more evident during summer, when nanoflagellates predominate in the phytoplankton population and stratification and oligotrophic conditions prevail in the study region. Together with previous findings concerning atmospheric Cu deposition, these results demonstrate that the toxicity of Cu-rich aerosols can involve large areas of the world's oceans. Moreover, they highlight the present vulnerability of oceanic ecosystems to Cu-rich aerosols of anthropogenic origins. Because anthropogenic emissions are increasing, large-scale negative effects on marine ecosystems can be anticipated.atmospheric dust | trace metal

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copper aerosols inhibit phytoplankton growth in the Mediterranean Sea

Jordi

Basterretxea

Tovar-Sánchez

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

125

103

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“…5). In addition to riverine inputs, atmospheric inputs, which are high across the Mediterranean (Guerzoni et al, 1999), are an important source of organic carbon (Dachs et al, 2005;Jurado et al, 2008), providing, along with riverine inputs, the allochtonous carbon required to support net heterotrophic communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regaudie-de-Gioux (aurore.regaudie@uib.es) position across the entire basin, from riverine inputs (Martin et al, 1989;Bethoux and Gentili, 1999;Guerzoni et al, 1999), and from inputs with Atlantic water entering the Western basin. Hence, nutrient inputs are highest in the Western basin, which receives the largest riverine discharge (e.g.…”

Section: Correspondence Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns in planktonic metabolism in the Mediterranean Sea

2009

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Abstract. Planktonic gross community production (GPP), net community production (NCP) and community respiration (CR) across the Mediterranean Sea was examined in two cruises, THRESHOLDS 2006 and 2007, each crossing the Mediterranean from West to East to test for consistent variation along this longitudinal gradient in late spring to early summer. GPP averaged 2.4±0.4 mmol O 2 m −3 d −1 , CR averaged 3.8±0.5 mmol O 2 m −3 d −1 , and NCP averaged -0.8±0.6 mmol O 2 m −3 d −1 across the studied sections, indicative of a tendency for a net heterotrophic metabolism in late spring to early summer, prevalent across studied sections of the Mediterranean Sea as reflected in 70% of negative NCP estimates. The median P /R ratio was 0.6, also indicating a strong prevalence of heterotrophic communities (P /R<1) along the studied sections of the Mediterranean Sea. The communities tended to be net heterotrophic (i.e. P /R<1) at GPP less than 2.8 mmol O 2 m −3 d −1 . The Western Mediterranean tended to support a higher gross primary production and community respiration than the Eastern basin did, but these differences were not statistically significant (ttest, p > 0.05). The net heterotrophy of the studied sections of the Mediterranean Sea indicates that allochthonous carbon should be important to subsidise planktonic metabolism during the late spring.

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“…Guerzoni et al (1999) and Kallos et al (2005) found that approximately 10 8 metric tons of dust are deposited annually over the Mediterranean Sea, and a similar amount is transferred towards Europe. In particular, the deposition rate of Saharan dust in the Mediterranean has been estimated to 3-14 g/m 2 per year with the largest value found for the Eastern Mediterranean (Prospero, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Identification of the Influence of African Dust on PM10 Concentrations at the Athens Air Quality Monitoring Network during the Period 2001-2010

Aleksandropoulou

Lazaridis

2013

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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The objective of this work was to identify Sahara dust intrusions and quantify their contribution to annual and daily PM 10 concentrations over the Athens Metropolitan Area (AMA) during the period 2001-2010. Additionally, extreme PM 10 values attributed to large forest fires and volcanic emissions or the synergy of the above with African dust intrusions have been identified. It was found that the concentrations of PM 10 during the period studied exceeded the European Union's Air Quality Standard (EU AQS) value at most of the traffic urban (TU) stations. Most of the extreme values were attributed to dust events or large forest fires. The contribution from African dust to PM 10 concentrations on days with events and exceedances of the EU AQS was approximately 50% at TU stations and 72% at the background suburban stations (BS). Most of the African dust events contributed about 5 μg/m 3 to 34 μg/m 3 to the daily PM 10 concentrations, whereas the average contribution to annual PM 10 concentrations was approximately 8.6 ± 1.8 μg/m 3 i.e., 22.2 ± 7.5%. During the decade, no clear interannual relationship was observed between the African dust contribution and the frequency and intensity of events. The more frequent and severe episodes occurred during spring, while less frequent and less severe episodes occurred during summer. After the extraction of the African dust load the annual and daily AQS was exceeded in 2010 at only one TU station. The average annual contribution of African dust to the exceedances was approximately 36% at TU stations and 58% at BS stations.

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

Cited by 391 publications

References 79 publications

Copper aerosols inhibit phytoplankton growth in the Mediterranean Sea

Copper aerosols inhibit phytoplankton growth in the Mediterranean Sea

Patterns in planktonic metabolism in the Mediterranean Sea

Identification of the Influence of African Dust on PM10 Concentrations at the Athens Air Quality Monitoring Network during the Period 2001-2010

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