An eight-year German research effort has shown that under the right conditions seeding the ocean with iron can trigger phytoplankton blooms that suck carbon out of the air and trap it deep in the ocean, a potentially important breakthrough in the nascent field of climate geoengineering. Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research said that adding 14 tons of iron sulfate to the Southern Ocean near Antarctica resulted in a significant phytoplankton bloom extending more than 300 feet deep. That bloom consisted of large masses of algae, mainly composed of diatoms, which absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. More than 50 percent of the carbon-rich algae then sunk to a depth of more than 3,000 feet, where it is likely to be trapped for centuries. The German research team conducted the iron-seeding experiment in 2004 and then spent eight years analyzing the data. Previous iron-seeding experiments have had difficulty tracking the path of CO2 pulled out of the atmosphere because of swirling currents and other complications. But the Wegener team said its experiment had succeeded because scientists found a 40-mile-wide column of water that was isolated from other ocean currents.
Iron-Seeding Experiment Shows Ability to Trap CO2 in Ocean
More From E360
-
Food & Agriculture
How Herbicide Drift from Farms Is Harming Trees in Midwest
-
Policy
U.S. Aid Cuts Are Hitting Global Conservation Projects Hard
-
INTERVIEW
How a Former Herder Protected Mongolia’s Vast Grasslands
-
Solutions
A.I. Is Quietly Powering a Revolution in Weather Prediction
-
RIVERS
On a Dammed River, Amazon Villagers Fight to Restore the Flow
-
Biodiversity
With the Great Mussel Die-Off, Scientists Scramble for Answers
-
ANALYSIS
Recycling Nuclear Waste: A Win-Win or a Dangerous Gamble?
-
CONFLICT
In War-Torn Sudan, a Gold Mining Boom Takes a Human Toll
-
Opinion
With NOAA Cuts, a Proud Legacy and Vital Science Are at Risk
-
Biodiversity
Imperiled in the Wild, Many Plants May Survive Only in Gardens
-
Climate
Can Toxic Mining Waste Help Remove CO2 from the Atmosphere?
-
INTERVIEW
Saving U.S. Climate and Environmental Data Before It Goes Away