Catarina Guerreiro, a project partner working at the University of Bremen, Germany, received the good news today that her very first dust-related paper was accepted in the open-access journal Biogeosciences as a "Discussion paper". This means that the manuscript can be read by literally everyone, and everyone can comment on it. In addition, two invited reviewers will provide a thorough assessment of the manuscript. This way, a really open scientific discussion will evolve, after which the manuscript may be changed in order to satisfy all discussion partners. To read the paper and maybe join the discussion, please visit: http://www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/bg-2017-216/

Catarina is an expert on phytoplankton, more specifically: coccolithophores, which are calcium-carbonate (CaCO3) building algae. The pieces of CaCO3 that are built are in the order of a few micrometers big/small and are very specific for certain ocean conditions. In the paper Catarina shows how different environments in the ocean produce different types of coccolithophores, some of which are most likely the result of Saharan-dust deposition!

Figure 10 of Catarina's paper showing the complex relations between ocean settings, plankton, and Saharan dust

For more info on our dust-related project see: www.nioz.nl/dust

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