Namib desert dust affects phytoplankton biomass in the Benguela upwelling region: Insights from first mesocosm study

IF 2.1 3区地球科学 Q2 OCEANOGRAPHY

Continental Shelf Research Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.csr.2024.105400

Monray D. Belelie , Roelof P. Burger , Johanna R.C. von Holdt , Rebecca M. Garland , Gadaffi M. Liswaniso , Sandy J. Thomalla , Stuart J. Piketh

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Abstract

The Benguela upwelling system (BUS) is frequently subject to dust deposition from southern Africa, which supplies macronutrients and trace metals to the ocean. The impact of these nutrients on chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in the BUS was investigated using the first-ever mesocosm study from 29 September to October 12, 2022. The study employed a single triplicate treatment where mesocosms were seeded with dust (DG) from the Kuiseb ephemeral riverbed, one of the leading dust sources in southern Africa and one unamended control (CM). All mesocosms were also seeded with equal amounts of Chaetoceros, Pavlova, and Tetraselmis, species of phytoplankton commonly found in the BUS. Temporal dynamics in Chl-a, iron (Fe), nitrate (NO₃⁻), silicon (Si), orthophosphate (PO₄³⁻), and light intensity were measured. The data suggests that adding dust from the Namib desert elicited a positive response from the phytoplankton in the BUS, as evidenced by higher Chl-a concentrations in the DG compared to the CM. This study demonstrates the likely importance of southern African dust emission and deposition for phytoplankton productivity in the adjacent BUS.

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来源期刊

Continental Shelf Research 地学-海洋学

CiteScore

4.30

自引率

4.30%

发文量

136

审稿时长

6.1 months

期刊介绍： Continental Shelf Research publishes articles dealing with the biological, chemical, geological and physical oceanography of the shallow marine environment, from coastal and estuarine waters out to the shelf break. The continental shelf is a critical environment within the land-ocean continuum, and many processes, functions and problems in the continental shelf are driven by terrestrial inputs transported through the rivers and estuaries to the coastal and continental shelf areas. Manuscripts that deal with these topics must make a clear link to the continental shelf. Examples of research areas include: Physical sedimentology and geomorphology Geochemistry of the coastal ocean (inorganic and organic) Marine environment and anthropogenic effects Interaction of physical dynamics with natural and manmade shoreline features Benthic, phytoplankton and zooplankton ecology Coastal water and sediment quality, and ecosystem health Benthic-pelagic coupling (physical and biogeochemical) Interactions between physical dynamics (waves, currents, mixing, etc.) and biogeochemical cycles Estuarine, coastal and shelf sea modelling and process studies.