Iron Hypothesis
The Iron Hypothesis was formulated by oceanographer John Martin, based
on theories by Joseph Hart and first tested in 1993 and may be a long
term solution to the rapid production of anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
In 1988, Nature magazine published the results of Martin's experiments
as well as his speculations on climate change [1.].
Certain areas of the oceans have high levels of plant nutrients, such
as nitrates, phosphates and carbonic acid. However, the phytoplankton
does not grow as strongly as it should, given the plentiful supply of
sunlight and plant food. It was discovered by John Martin that the
lack of micronutrients, trace metals and particularly iron, was a
limiting factor for growth of phytoplankton in HNLC (High Nutrient,
Low Chlorophyll) ocean surface waters. Much in the same way as a lack
of Vitamins (Vital Minerals) can cause illness and deficiencies in
humans. Scientists Ken Johnson, Dick Barber and Kenneth Coale of the
Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in Monterey Bay, California, were
able to prove John Martin was correct, in a series of tests conducted
near the Galapagos Islands in 1993 and again in 1995. Their results
were published in Nature magazine [3.]. By seeding or fertilizing the
surface layer of the sea with fine particulates of iron, growth blooms
of phytoplankton could be encouraged.
The world's oceans are huge natural carbon dioxide sinks [7.] and
represent the largest active carbon sink on Earth. This oceanic sink
for carbon dioxide (CO2) is driven by two processes, the solubility
pump and the biological pump. The solubility pump is where atmospheric
CO2 one of the so-called greenhouse effect gases, is washed out of the
air by precipitation. The rainfall dissolves the gas and turns some of
it into carbonic acid. In the natural circulation of the solubility
pump, CO2 is also released back into the atmosphere - unless it is
utilised by the biological pump. The biological pump is where
biological organisms, mainly phytoplankton, metabolises and fixes the
CO2 into carbohydrate through photosynthesis, which then enters the
ocean food chain, the aquatic ecosystem. A 2006 study [16.] suggests
that every day, more than a hundred million tons of carbon in the form
of CO2 are fixed into organic material by phytoplankton in the
euphotic zone and each day a similar amount of this now biological
carbon is either grazed by other marine life or sinks to the sea floor
as marine snow.
more info and tests result links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Hypothesis
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