Ocean islands fuel productivity and carbon sequestration through natural iron fertilisation

An experiment to study the effects of naturally deposited iron in the Southern Ocean has filled in a key piece of the puzzle surrounding iron's role in locking atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ocean. The research, conducted by an international team led by Raymond Pollard of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, and included Matthew Charette, a marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), found that natural iron fertilisation enhanced the export of carbon to the deep ocean. The research was published 29 January 2009, in the journal Nature...

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