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Glacial meltwater from Greenland is not likely to be an important source of Fe to the North Atlantic

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Abstract

Recent work has shown that glaciers are a globally significant source of the micronutrient Fe to the ocean. Polar regions are particularly susceptible to climate change and have been subject to pronounced warming in the past few decades. In response to this warming, the volume of glacial meltwater runoff from Greenland has increased. This meltwater has a relatively high particulate and dissolved Fe content. Seasonal Fe limitation of marine ecosystems has been found in parts of the North Atlantic, so it has been proposed that increasing fluxes of Fe rich meltwater from Greenland to the North Atlantic could alleviate this Fe limitation and thereby increase marine primary production. However, here we use a synthesis of biogeochemical and physical oceanography studies to suggest that the physical circulation around Greenland does not favour direct export of dissolved or particulate Fe from inshore to offshore waters. The Fe budget in surface waters of the North Atlantic may therefore be insensitive to increasing meltwater fluxes from Greenland.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank two reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript, the Danish Meteorological Institute for providing satellite images and Kate Davis (Southampton) for Fig. 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK

    M. J. Hopwood & P. J. Statham

  2. National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK

    S. Bacon & D. P. Connelly

  3. Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, PO Box 570, 3900, Nuuk, Greenland

    K. Arendt

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  1. M. J. Hopwood
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  2. S. Bacon
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  3. K. Arendt
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  4. D. P. Connelly
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  5. P. J. Statham
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Correspondence to M. J. Hopwood.

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Hopwood, M.J., Bacon, S., Arendt, K. et al. Glacial meltwater from Greenland is not likely to be an important source of Fe to the North Atlantic. Biogeochemistry 124, 1–11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0091-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-015-0091-6

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