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Pumping iron makes thinner diatoms

1998; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 393; Issue: 6687 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/31585

1476-4687

Ed Boyle,

Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

In certain parts of the open ocean known as ‘high nitrate, low chlorophyll’ provinces, phytoplankton productivity is limited by the iron supply. Two sets of research results now show that productivity in a region of coastal upwelling is likewise limited, and bring silica (an important constituent of diatom skeletons) into the story. Iron-limited diatoms grow thicker silica shells — which, among other things, has implications for understanding past patterns of productivity as judged by the opaline deposits on the sea floor to which dead diatoms contribute.