Great news!
Our Research Topic titled “Aerosol Deposition in the Ocean: Drivers and Biogeochemical Effects” at Frontiers in Marine Science has its first accepted manuscript. This study led by the University of Miami explores the biogeochemical impacts of mineral dust deposition on marine microbial phosphate uptake during the “Godzilla” dust storm of June 2020, when unusually high fluxes of dust traveled across the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert, reaching the Americas. The study also investigates the effects from substantial ashfall in the southeastern Caribbean driven by the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano on St. Vincent in April 2021.
P and total Fe concentrations in Godzilla mineral dust and La Soufrière volcanic ash, determined by ICP-QQQ. Fe concentrations are much higher than P concentrations and are therefore reported as percents (Credits: Hope et al., 2023).
In addition to quantifying phosphorous and iron content in mineral dust from the Godzilla dust storm and volcanic ash from the La Soufrière eruption collected at Ragged Point (Barbados), these science team leading this study also performed seawater incubations to assess the marine microbial response to aerosol deposition. If you want to know more about this study, click here.