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Effect of Ocean Iron Fertilization on the Phytoplankton Biological Carbon Pump

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2015

Adam Pan ,
Babak Pourziaei  and
Huaxiong Huang
Adam Pan*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3 Program of Engineering Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1
Babak Pourziaei*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
Huaxiong Huang*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3
*
Email: adampan@utoronto.ca
Email: bobbyp@mathstat.yorku.ca
Corresponding author. URL: http://www.math.yorku.ca/~hhuang/ Email: hhuang@yorku.ca
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Abstract

It has been proposed that photosynthetic plankton can be used as a biological carbon pump tp absorb and sequester carbon dioxide in the ocean. In this paper, plankton population dynamics are simulated in a single stratified water column to predict carbon dioxide sequestering due to surface iron fertilization in deep ocean. Using a predator-prey model and realistic parameter values, iron fertilization was found to only cause temporary blooms up to 5 months in duration, and relatively small increases in adsorption of atmospheric CO2.

Keywords

87.10.Ed87.18.Wd87.23.CcPhytoplanktoncarbon dioxideiron fertilizationcarbon pump
Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , February 2011 , pp. 52 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Global-Science Press 2011

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