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Silica burial enhanced by iron limitation in oceanic upwelling margins

Nature Geoscience volume 7, pages 541–546 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

In large swaths of the ocean, primary production by diatoms may be limited by the availability of silica, which in turn limits the biological uptake of carbon dioxide. The burial of biogenic silica in the form of opal is the main sink of marine silicon. Opal burial occurs in equal parts in iron-limited open-ocean provinces and upwelling margins, especially the eastern Pacific upwelling zone. However, it is unclear why opal burial is so efficient in this margin. Here we measure fluxes of biogenic material, concentrations of diatom-bound iron and silicon isotope ratios using sediment traps and a sediment core from the Gulf of California upwelling margin. In the sediment trap material, we find that periods of intense upwelling are associated with transient iron limitation that results in a high export of silica relative to organic carbon. A similar correlation between enhanced silica burial and iron limitation is evident in the sediment core, which spans the past 26,000 years. A global compilation also indicates that hotspots of silicon burial in the ocean are all characterized by high silica to organic carbon export ratios, a diagnostic trait for diatoms growing under iron stress. We therefore propose that prevailing conditions of silica limitation in the ocean are largely caused by iron deficiency imposing an indirect constraint on oceanic carbon uptake.

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Figure 1: The distribution of biogenic silica fluxes and molar biogenic silica (Si) to organic carbon (Si/Corg) ratios shows the variability in Si/Corg ratio among a wide range of oceanic provinces.
Figure 2: Biogenic fluxes, Si/Corg ratio and diatom-bound Fe in the Gulf of California sediment trap.
Figure 3: Multiproxy reconstruction of silica cycling and iron biological availability in the Gulf of California over the last climatic cycle in core MD 02-2515 (27° 53’ N, 111° 40’ W) illustrates the long-term impact of Fe limitation on Si burial.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Calvert, K. Darling and B. Reynolds for discussions. Financial support for this project was provided by the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience Environment Society (SAGES), and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a Standard NERC grant to R.S.G. and L.E.P. Sediment Core MD 02-2515 was retrieved during the MONA (Marges Ouest Nord Américaines) cruise of the RV Marion Dufresne (International Marine Global Changes-IMAGES VIII) in June 2002.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geosciences, Grant Institute, University of Edinburgh, West Main Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK,

    L. E. Pichevin, R. S. Ganeshram, W. Geibert & R. Hinton

  2. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA

    R. Thunell

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  1. L. E. Pichevin
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  2. R. S. Ganeshram
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Contributions

L.E.P. and R.S.G. initiated the project. L.E.P. and R.H. measured diatom-bound trace metals, L.E.P. measured elemental composition and silicon isotopes, W.G. and R.T. provided samples for diatom-bound trace metal measurements, and L.E.P. and R.S.G. wrote the paper with the participation of W.G. All authors were involved in the discussions of the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to L. E. Pichevin.

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Pichevin, L., Ganeshram, R., Geibert, W. et al. Silica burial enhanced by iron limitation in oceanic upwelling margins. Nature Geosci 7, 541–546 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2181

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