RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Air pollution–aerosol interactions produce more bioavailable iron for ocean ecosystems
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP e1601749
DO 10.1126/sciadv.1601749
VO 3
IS 3
A1 Li, Weijun
A1 Xu, Liang
A1 Liu, Xiaohuan
A1 Zhang, Jianchao
A1 Lin, Yangting
A1 Yao, Xiaohong
A1 Gao, Huiwang
A1 Zhang, Daizhou
A1 Chen, Jianmin
A1 Wang, Wenxing
A1 Harrison, Roy M.
A1 Zhang, Xiaoye
A1 Shao, Longyi
A1 Fu, Pingqing
A1 Nenes, Athanasios
A1 Shi, Zongbo
YR 2017
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/3/e1601749.abstract
AB It has long been hypothesized that acids formed from anthropogenic pollutants and natural emissions dissolve iron (Fe) in airborne particles, enhancing the supply of bioavailable Fe to the oceans. However, field observations have yet to provide indisputable evidence to confirm this hypothesis. Single-particle chemical analysis for hundreds of individual atmospheric particles collected over the East China Sea shows that Fe-rich particles from coal combustion and steel industries were coated with thick layers of sulfate after 1 to 2 days of atmospheric residence. The Fe in aged particles was present as a “hotspot” of (insoluble) iron oxides and throughout the acidic sulfate coating in the form of (soluble) Fe sulfate, which increases with degree of aging (thickness of coating). This provides the “smoking gun” for acid iron dissolution, because iron sulfate was not detected in the freshly emitted particles and there is no other source or mechanism of iron sulfate formation in the atmosphere.