 |
| Titel |
A new tool to study the fertilising effect of Saharan dust at sea |
| VerfasserIn |
Jan-Berend Stuut, Roel Bakker, Michelle van der Does, Carmen Friese, Edwin Keijzer, Laura Korte, Bob Koster, Walther Lenting, Martin Laan, Frank van Maarsseveen, Chris Munday, Matthias Schrama, Yvo Witte |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2015
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 17 (2015) |
| Datensatznummer |
250113084
|
| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2015-13281.pdf |
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| Massive amounts of dust (>200 Million Ton) are blown from the Sahara into and over the Atlantic Ocean every year. This dust strongly alters the atmosphere through blocking incoming solar radiation [cooling the atmosphere] and trapping outgoing heat that was reflected at the earth’s surface [warming the atmosphere]. In addition, aerosols carry huge amounts of metals and nutrients that can boost marine life, but also vast amounts of microbes, spores, and pathogens that are harmful for both marine- and terrestrial (including human!) life. The net effect of cooling/warming and ocean fertilisation/poisoning is presently far from understood as it depends on a complex set of parameters related to dust emission, dispersal, and deposition. In order to quantify these parameters, we are carrying out a novel approach to study the transatlantic flux of Saharan dust and its environmental effect on the ocean with classic marine sediment traps and three new dust-collecting surface buoys sampling the Saharan dust plume between NW Africa and the Caribbean. Here, we focus on the design, functionality, and initial results of the dust-collecting buoys that were constructed at NIOZ, and which have been deployed in the Atlantic Ocean in November 2013. |
|
|
|
|
|
|