Dust Deposition to the Sargasso Sea: A Comparison of Estimates Using Aluminum in the Surface Ocean Versus Aerosols and Rainwater

Williams, T. E.; Sedwick, P. N.; Sohst, B. M.; Buck, K. N.; Caprara, S.; Johnson, R. J.; Ohnemus, D. C.; Resing, J. A.; Sofen, L. E.; Tagliabue, A.; Twining, B. S.

doi:10.1029/2024GL113217

i

Dust Deposition to the Sargasso Sea: A Comparison of Estimates Using Aluminum in the Surface Ocean Versus Aerosols and Rainwater

2025
By Williams, T. E. ; Sedwick, P. N. ; Sohst, B. M. ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Geophysical Research Letters
Personal Author:

Williams, T. E. ; Sedwick, P. N. ; Sohst, B. M. ; Buck, K. N. ; Caprara, S. ; Johnson, R. J. ; Ohnemus, D. C. ; Resing, J. A. ; Sofen, L. E. ; Tagliabue, A. ; Twining, B. S.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory)
Description:

As a major component of mineral aerosol that partially dissolves in seawater, aluminum (Al) has been used to estimate time‐averaged dust fluxes to the ocean, based on dissolved aluminum (DAl) concentrations and an assumed replacement time of DAl (τDAl) in the surface mixed layer, along with the fractional solubility (Als) and mass abundance of Al in dust. We apply this method in the Bermuda region using seasonal water‐column DAl concentrations, and compare our results with fluxes estimated from Al measured in Bermuda aerosols and rain. Inventories of DAl over the maximum mixed‐layer depth of 200 m and empirically derived Als values yield mean dust fluxes of 5.3–11.2 g m−2 yr−1, around 4‐ to 9‐fold higher than fluxes estimated from aerosols and rain, which average 1.2 g m−2 yr−1 over a 318‐day sampling period. This discrepancy likely reflects an underestimate in τDAl and lateral transport of DAl in the surface ocean.
Source:

Geophysical Research Letters, 52(8)
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113217
ISSN:

0094-8276 ; 1944-8007
Format:

PDF
Publisher:

American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Document Type:

Journal Article
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY-NC-ND
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:2a78fc5d484506429f9ab37b37a2442f32b179b735b13fc231538c2d1917d62a9961922b8ec91712bb7da2d21a5e4ea1665269fade8c970b6ae30b123df6e30f
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/70537/noaa_70537_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 826.97 KB ]

ON THIS PAGE

Details

The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners. As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.