| Our understanding of the processes controlling iron concentrations and speciation in the Southern Ocean have been greatly improved over the last few years, most notably with the iron enrichment experiments; SOIREE (Feb 1999), EISENEX (Nov 2000) and SOFeX (Feb 2002). While these experiments confirmed conclusively that relieving iron limitation allows phytoplankton blooms to develop, they have also allowed us insight into the mechanisms by which iron can be retained in the surface ocean and so prolong the extent of the bloom. In this presentation results from the iron enrichment experiments will be used to assess data taken from other survey work in the Southern Ocean to examine the natural sources and sinks for iron to the Southern Ocean. Key processes influencing the speciation of iron will be identified and an attempt made to explain the differences in productivity between the various sectors of the Southern Ocean. |
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