Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Matters Arising
  • Published:

No evidence for equatorial Pacific dust fertilization

Nature Geoscience volume 12, pages 154–155 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

Matters Arising to this article was published on 27 February 2019

The Original Article was published on 11 September 2017

arising from Matthew R. Loveley et al. Nature Geoscience https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo3024 (2017)

Loveley and co-authors1 present 232Th and biogenic barium (Baxs) fluxes from eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) site MV1014-02-17JC (17JC). They argue that millennial increases in dust flux enhanced productivity via Fe fertilization and increased efficiency of the biological pump. Here, we show that this conclusion is unwarranted, and present an alternative explanation that is consistent with data from nearby Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1240. Our understanding of the carbon cycle further suggests that Fe fertilization in the EEP cannot influence \(p_{{\mathrm {CO}}_2}\) (ref. 2), necessitating a careful examination of claims to the contrary.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Statistical assessment of factors influencing productivity.

Data availability

Data supporting the results of this contribution are available through PANGAEA at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.897587.

References

  1. Loveley, M. R. et al. Millennial-scale iron fertilization of the eastern equatorial Pacific over the past 100,000 years. Nat. Geosci. 113, 760–764 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Sigman, D. M. & Haug, G. H. Treatise on Geochemistry Vol. 6 491–528 (Elsevier-Pergamon, Oxford, 2003).

  3. Winckler, G., Anderson, R. F., Jaccard, S. L. & Marcantonio, F. Ocean dynamics, not dust, have controlled equatorial Pacific productivity over the past 500,000 years. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 6119–6124 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jacobel, A. W., McManus, J. F., Anderson, R. F. & Winckler, G. Climate-related response of dust flux to the central equatorial Pacific over the past 150 kyr. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 457, 160–172 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Costa, K. M. et al. No iron fertilization in the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the last ice age. Nature 529, 519–522 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dymond, J., Seuss, E. & Lyle, M. Barium in deep-sea sediment: a geochemical proxy for paleoproductivity. Paleoceanography 7, 163–181 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Robinson, R. S., Martinez, P., Pena, L. D. & Cacho, I. Nitrogen isotopic evidence for deglacial changes in nutrient supply in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Paleoceanography 24, PA4213 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Rafter, P. A., Sigman, D. M. & Mackey, K. R. M. Recycled iron fuels new production in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Nat. Commun. 8, 1100 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gordon, R. M., Coale, K. H. & Johnson, K. S. Iron distributions in the equatorial Pacific: implications for new production. Limnol. Oceanogr. 42, 419–431 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Feely, R. A., Wanninkhof, R., McGillis, W., Carr, M. E. & Cosca, C. E. Effects of wind speed and gas exchange parameterizations on the air–sea CO2 fluxes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. J. Geophys. Res. 109, C08S03 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. A. W. Jacobel

    Present address: Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

  2. K. M. Costa

    Present address: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

  3. E. M. Shoenfelt

    Present address: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, USA

    A. W. Jacobel, R. F. Anderson, G. Winckler, K. M. Costa, J. Gottschalk, J. L. Middleton, F. J. Pavia, E. M. Shoenfelt & Y. Zhou

  2. Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    R. F. Anderson, G. Winckler, K. M. Costa, F. J. Pavia, E. M. Shoenfelt & Y. Zhou

Authors
  1. A. W. Jacobel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. F. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. Winckler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. K. M. Costa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. Gottschalk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J. L. Middleton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. F. J. Pavia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. E. M. Shoenfelt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Y. Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

R.F.A., G.W. and A.W.J. designed the research, A.W.J. performed the analyses and all authors were involved in writing and revising the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. W. Jacobel.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jacobel, A.W., Anderson, R.F., Winckler, G. et al. No evidence for equatorial Pacific dust fertilization. Nat. Geosci. 12, 154–155 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0304-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0304-z

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing