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Input of Various Chemicals Transported by Saharan Dust and Depositing atthe Sea Surface in the Mediterranean Sea

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The Mediterranean Sea

Part of the book series: Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC5,volume 5K))

Abstract

This paper reviews work on the role of Saharan dust as a contribution of various chemicals to the Mediterranean basin. Both the magnitude and the mineralogical composition of atmospheric dust inputs indicate that eolian deposition is an important (50%) or even dominant (more than 80%) contribution to sediments in the offshore waters of the entire Mediterranean basin. The Mediterranean Sea is a semi-enclosed basin, which receives substances sporadically from the arid region of the Sahara desert. We considered the location and strength of source areas, the transport paths of material away from the desert, the number of Saharan dust transports per year, the way the dust is deposited (wet and dry mode), the fluxes of Saharan dust, the nature of the material, and the contribution of nutrients to the sea surface. Estimates of atmospheric inputs to the Mediterranean and some coastal areas are reviewed. Model data for nutrients indicate that the atmosphere delivers one half of the nitrogen and one third of the total phosphorus to the entire basin. Data measured in sub-basins, such as the Western Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean, indicate an even greater proportions of atmospheric versus riverine input. New production supported by atmospheric nitrogen deposition ranges from 2 to 4 g C m-2 year-1, whereas atmospheric phosphorus deposition appears to support less than 1 g C m-2 year-1. In spite of the apparently small contribution of atmospheric deposition to overall production in the basin, it has been suggested that certain episodic phytoplankton blooms are triggered by atmospheric deposition of N, P or Fe. Iron fluxes may be important in determining the nature and quantity of carbon fluxes from Fe-rich areas (like the Mediterranean Sea), in addition to Fe-poor areas such as the extant Southern Ocean. A geophysiological model shows that iron removal from the photic zone occurs at a much higher rate than the conventional biological pump can account for and that this might create the risk of excessive phosphate scavenging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Riva VII Martiri 1364/A, 30122, Venice, Italy

    Stefano Guerzoni

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Dorsoduro 2137, 30123, Venice, Italy

    Emanuela Molinaroli

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  1. Stefano Guerzoni
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  2. Emanuela Molinaroli
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Correspondence to Stefano Guerzoni .

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Alain Saliot

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Guerzoni, S., Molinaroli, E. (2005 ). Input of Various Chemicals Transported by Saharan Dust and Depositing atthe Sea Surface in the Mediterranean Sea. In: Saliot, A. (eds) The Mediterranean Sea. Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 5K. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/b107149

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