About this Research Topic

Background

Megatons of aerosol particles of both natural and anthropogenic sources are transported by the wind over great distances around the globe, carrying macronutrients and trace metals that are essential for marine ecosystems. Dust also provides a source of mineral ballast that facilitates the export of carbon-enriched material produced in the upper ocean and its subsequent long-term sequestration in deep-sea sediments. Both fertilization and ballasting by aerosol particles are likely to have impacts on both short timescales – by directly stimulating the productivity of ecologically distinct and biogeochemically important marine organisms; and on longer timescales, during which dust will influence important biogeochemical cycles, including the stimulation of the biological carbon pump. All these aerosol-related processes may be particularly important under the current scenario of increasing climate-driven environmental variability and the projected increase of atmospheric dust outbreaks in response to increasing desertification of large continental areas.



Despite its great potential for impacting the marine carbon cycle, there is still a lot that we do not know about the biogeochemical effects of aerosol deposition in the ocean, nor about the factors driving aerosol-driven fertilization and ballasting. Wet deposition of chemically processed aerosol particles and the inclusion of pyrogenic aerosols produced from biomass burning are all considered to increase its fertilizing potential. Once deposited, mixing and recycling of aerosol particles within the ocean water column may increase their residence time i.e., extended time to interact with the water so that nutrients can dissolve/scavenge. While smaller and nutrient-enriched clay dust particles are more likely to act as more efficient vehicles for nutrient delivery, the extent to which their solubility is enhanced by biologically- and/or chemically mediated processes is still largely unknown, and even less so, quantified. Also, more research linking aerosol-nutrient release and marine productivity underneath the air-sea interface is required towards better understanding the response by ecologically distinct marine organisms along the entire water column of the ocean, particularly those of high biogeochemical relevance.



In this Research Topic, we invite manuscripts that will improve existing understanding of drivers and biogeochemical impacts of atmospheric aerosols from natural (mineral dust originating from deserts, volcanic ashes, and pyrogenic aerosols from wildfires) and anthropogenic sources (nutrients and contaminants produced from fossil fuel and biofuel combustion, and dust emitted from soils altered by human activity) on marine ecosystems, both in the past, present, and future. We strongly encourage the submission of studies (1) addressing processes that increase the bioavailability of atmospheric nutrients both during atmospheric transport and after deposition in the ocean, (2) assessing and quantifying the timescales of biogeochemical responses by autotrophic and heterotrophic marine communities to atmospheric nutrient input; and (3) focusing on the role of aerosols as facilitators of the export and sequestration of carbon to the deep-sea. Contributions based on in-situ observations, laboratory experiments, satellite remote sensing data and/or numerical modelling approaches are all welcome.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Mineral dust, Pyrogenic dust, Anthropogenic aerosols, Nutrients, Fertilization, Marine Ecosystems, Biogeochemical Cycling, Biomass burning, Wet and Dry Dust Deposition, Ballasting

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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