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Increased biological productivity and export production in the glacial Southern Ocean

Nature volume 378, pages 675–680 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

A range of complementary radionuclide proxies in sediments of the southernmost Atlantic Ocean over the past 140,000 years indicate that glacial periods were characterized by greatly increased fluxes of biogenic detritus out of surface waters. This increase in export production, which may have contributed to lower concentrations of carbon dioxide in the glacial atmosphere, was accompanied by more than a fivefold increase in accumulation of lithogenic iron transported by winds from Patagonian deserts. These observations support the hypothesis that the iron limitation of today's Southern Ocean productivity was relieved in glacial periods by a greater supply of iron from wind-blown dust.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. N. Kumar

    Present address: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10027, USA

  2. P. N. Froelich

    Present address: School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0340, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964, USA

    N. Kumar, R. F. Anderson, R. A. Mortlock & P. N. Froelich

  2. Paul Scherrer Institut, c/o ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    P. Kubik

  3. Institute für Teilchenphysik der ETH Zurich, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    B. Dittrich-Hannen & M. Suter

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  7. M. Suter
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Kumar, N., Anderson, R., Mortlock, R. et al. Increased biological productivity and export production in the glacial Southern Ocean. Nature 378, 675–680 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/378675a0

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