The Global Iron Cycle

The objective of the IGBP/SCOR Iron Fast Track Initiative was to conduct an analysis and review of the global dust/iron cycle cutting across conventional boundaries, bringing together terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic scientists who do not normally work together.

19 Participants from 12 countries, with appropriate expertise in particular aspects of the global dust/iron cycle participated in the activity. The Iron FTI has culminated in a review paper published in Science (PDF, 332 KB), with three more papers either submitted or in preparation for Global Biogeochemical Cycles. The first of these papers focuses on the production and atmospheric transport of dust, the second on deposition of dust to the oceans and the biogeochemical response to this addition, and the third on the palaeo record of dust transport and deposition.

Contact:Tim Jickells, and Zhisheng An.

Jickells, T.D., Z. S. An, K. K. Anderson, A. R. Baker, G. Bergametti, N. Brooks, J. J. Cao, P. W. Boyd, R. A. Duce, K. A. Hunter, H. Kawahata, N. Kubilay, J. laRoche, P. S. Liss, N. Mahowald, J. M. Prospero, A. J. Ridgwell, I. Tegen and R. Torres, Global Iron Connections Between Desert Dust, Ocean Biogeochemistry, and Climate, Science, Vol 308, Issue 5718, 67-71, 1 April 2005.