Objectives

Iron limits productivity in 40% of the oceans, and is a co-limitation in the remaining 60% of surface waters. Moreover the paradigm of a single factor limiting plankton blooms, is presently giving way to co-limitation by light, and the nutrients N, P, Si and Fe. Primary production, export into the deep sea, and CO₂ uptake from the atmosphere together form the 'biological pump' in Ocean Biogeochemical Climate Models (OBCM's). Thus far OBCM's assume just one limiting nutrient (P) and one universal phytoplankton species, for deriving C budgets and CO₂ exchange. New realistic OBCM's will be developed for budgeting and exchanges of both CO₂ and DMS, implementing... co-limitation by 4 nutrients of 5 major taxonomic classes of phytoplankton, DMS(P) pathways, global iron cycling, chemical forms of iron, iron supply into surface waters. The new OBCM's developed during IRONAGES will predict realistic climate scenario's, most notably climatic feedbacks on oceanic biogeochemistry. IRONAGES is a consortium of 12 European institutes and is coordinated by NIOZ (Prof. Dr. H. de Baar en Dr. K. Timmermans).
Workpackage 1: Sources of Iron in Surface Waters - Iron from below

Workpackage 2: Sources of Iron in Surface Waters - Iron from above

Workpackage 3: Fe availability and certification

Workpackage 4: Major DMS(P) producers

Workpackage 5: Growth, Export Production of other Major Taxonomic Groups

Workpackage 6: Ecosystem modelling

Workpackage 7: Iron Modelling

Workpackage 8: Improved Ocean Biogeochemical Climate Modelling

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