Cécile Guieu

French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France · Laboratoire d'Oceanographie de Villefranche sur Mer, Universite Paris 6

This chapter provides an overview of the current knowledge on aerosols in the marine atmosphere and the effects of aerosols on climate and on processes in the oceanic surface layer. Aerosol particles in the marine atmosphere originate predominantly from direct production at the sea surface due to the interaction between wind and waves (sea spray ae...

By bringing new nutrients and particles to the surface ocean, atmospheric deposition impacts biogeochemical cycles. The extent to which those changes are modifying the carbon balance in oligotrophic environments such as the Mediterranean Sea that receives important Saharan dust fluxes is unknown. The DUNE (DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chl...

In the vast Low Nutrient Low-Chlorophyll (LNLC) Ocean, the vertical nutrient supply from the subsurface to the sunlit surface waters is low and atmospheric contribution of nutrients may be one order of magnitude greater over short timescales. The short turnover time of atmospheric Fe and N supply (<1 month for nitrate) further supports deposition b...

In the Western Tropical South Pacific, patches of high chlorophyll concentrations linked to the occurrence of N2-fixing organisms are found in the vicinity of volcanic islands. The survival of these organisms relies on a high bioavailable iron supply whose origin and fluxes remain unknown. Here, we measured high dissolved iron (DFe) concentrations...

Iron is an essential nutrient that regulates productivity in ~30% of the ocean. Compared with deep (>2000 meter) hydrothermal activity at mid-ocean ridges that provide iron to the ocean's interior, shallow (<500 meter) hydrothermal fluids are likely to influence the surface's ecosystem. However, their effect is unknown. In this work, we show that f...

The sea surface microlayer (SSML) is critical to air-sea exchanges of gases and primary aerosols. However, despite the extent of this boundary layer, little is known about its specific bacterial community (bacterioneuston) and how it may affect ocean-atmosphere exchanges. Here, we studied the bacterial community composition in the surface waters of...

Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for phytoplankton, particularly diazotrophs, which are abundant in the Western Tropical South Pacific Ocean (WTSP). Their success depends on the numerous trace metals, particularly iron, released from shallow hydrothermal vents along the Tonga Arc. This study aimed to explore the impact of hydrothermal fluids...

This chapter presents the current knowledge on the impact of atmospheric deposition from natural sources, such as Saharan dust, and from anthropogenic activities, on marine chemistry and biogeochemistry of the open Mediterranean Sea. Results from process studies and observations at sea that have been conducted over the past decade are summarized al...

Mediterranean atmospheric pollution sources, processes, and impacts are summarized in this chapter. The companion Volume 1 describes the context and the distribution of gaseous and particulate pollutants. The present volume is composed of six sections that make the synthesis of our knowledge on air pollutant sources (Part V), atmospheric chemical p...

In the Western Tropical South Pacific, a hotspot of dinitrogen-fixing organisms has been identified. The survival of these species depends on the availability of dissolved iron (DFe); however, the source of this DFe is still unclear. DFe was measured along a transect from 175°E to 166°W near 19-21°S. The distribution of DFe showed high spatial vari...

The unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacterium Crocosphaera contributes significantly to fixed nitrogen inputs in the oligotrophic ocean. In the western tropical South Pacific Ocean (WTSP), these diazotrophs abound thanks to the phosphorus-rich waters provided by the South Equatorial Current, and iron provided aeolian and subsurface volcanic activity....

Diazotrophs are often limited by iron (Fe) availability in the oligotrophic ocean. The Western Tropical South Pacific (WTSP) ocean has been suggested as an intense N2 fixation area due to Fe fertilizations through shallow hydrothermal activity. Yet, the Fe demand of diazotrophs in their natural habitat, where they cohabit with other microbial organ...

In the oligotrophic waters of the Mediterranean Sea, during the stratification period, the microbial loop relies on pulsed inputs of nutrients through the atmospheric deposition of aerosols from both natural (e.g., Saharan dust), anthropogenic, or mixed origins. While the influence of dust deposition on microbial processes and community composition...

This study reports the only recent characterization of two contrasted wet deposition events collected during the PEACETIME (ProcEss studies at the Air–sEa Interface after dust deposition in the MEditerranean Sea) cruise in the open Mediterranean Sea (Med Sea) and their impact on trace metal (TM) marine stocks. Rain samples were analysed for Al, 12...

N2 fixation rates were measured in the 0–1000 m layer at 13 stations located in the open western and central Mediterranean Sea (MS) during the PEACETIME cruise (late spring 2017). While the spatial variability in N2 fixation was not related to Fe, P nor N stocks, the surface composition of the diazotrophic community indicated a strong longitudinal...

A key Earth system science question is the role of atmospheric deposition in supplying vital nutrients to the phytoplankton that form the base of marine food webs. Industrial and vehicular pollution, wildfires, volcanoes, biogenic debris, and desert dust all carry nutrients within their plumes throughout the globe. In remote ocean ecosystems, aeros...

Mineral dust deposition is an important supply mechanism for trace elements in the low-latitude ocean. Our understanding of the controls of such inputs has been mostly built on laboratory and surface ocean studies. The lack of direct observations and the tendency to focus on near-surface waters prevent a comprehensive evaluation of the role of dust...

The surface mixed layer (ML) in the Mediterranean Sea is a well-stratified domain characterized by low macronutrients and low chlorophyll content for almost 6 months of the year. In this study we characterize the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen (N) in the ML by analyzing simultaneous in situ measurements of atmospheric deposition, nutrients in s...

Although atmospheric dust fluxes from arid as well as human-impacted areas represent a significant source of nutrients to surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea, studies focusing on the evolution of the metabolic balance of the plankton community following a dust deposition event are scarce, and none were conducted in the context of projected futu...

In low-nutrient low-chlorophyll areas, such as the Mediterranean Sea, atmospheric fluxes represent a considerable external source of nutrients likely supporting primary production, especially during periods of stratification. These areas are expected to expand in the future due to lower nutrient supply from sub-surface waters caused by climate-driv...

This study reports the only recent characterisation of two contrasted wet deposition events collected during the PEACETIME cruise in the Mediterranean open seawater, and their impact on trace metals (TMS) marine stocks. Rain samples were analysed for Al, 12 trace metals (TMs hereafter, including Co, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, V and Zn) and...

N2 fixation rates were measured in the 0–1000 m layer at 13 stations located in the open western and central Mediterranean Sea (MS) during the PEACETIME cruise (late spring 2017). While the spatial variability of N2 fixation was not related to Fe, P nor N stocks, the surface composition of the diazotrophic community indicated a strong eastward incr...

The organic mass fraction from sea spray aerosol (SSA) is currently a subject of intense research. The majority of this research is dedicated to measurements in ambient air. However a number of studies have recently started to focus on nascent sea spray aerosol. This work presents measurements collected during a 5-week cruise in May and June 2017 i...

Anthropogenic emissions to the atmosphere have increased the flux of nutrients, especially nitrogen, to the ocean, but they have also altered the acidity of aerosol, cloud water, and precipitation over much of the marine atmosphere. For nitrogen, acidity-driven changes in chemical speciation result in altered partitioning between the gas and partic...

In the oligotrophic waters of the Mediterranean Sea, during the stratification period, the microbial loop relies on pulsed inputs of nutrients through atmospheric deposition of aerosols from both natural (Saharan dust) and anthropogenic origins. While the influence of dust deposition on microbial processes and community composition is still not ful...

Lithogenic elements such as aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), rare earth elements (REEs), thorium (232Th and 230Th, given as Th) and protactinium (Pa) are often assumed to be insoluble. In this study, their dissolution from Saharan dust reaching Mediterranean seawater was studied through tank experiments over 3 to 4 d under controlled conditions including...

The study of phosphorus cycling in P-depleted oceanic regions, such as the Mediterranean Sea, has long suffered from methodological limitations leading to a simplistic view of a homogeneous surface phosphate pool with concentrations theoretically set to zero above the phosphacline. During the PEACETIME (Process studies at the air-sea interface afte...

Mineral dust deposition is an important supply mechanism for trace elements in the low-latitude ocean. Our understanding of the controls of such inputs has been mostly built onto laboratory and surface ocean studies. The lack of direct observations and the tendency to focus on near surface waters prevent a comprehensive evaluation of the role of du...

Although atmospheric dust fluxes from arid as well as human-impacted areas represent a significant source of nutrients to surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea, studies focusing on the evolution of the metabolic balance of the plankton community following a dust deposition event are scarce and none were conducted in the context of projected futur...

Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) have a large impact on the climate-relevant properties of clouds over the oceans. Studies have shown that sea spray aerosols (SSAs), produced upon bursting of bubbles at the ocean surface, can be an important source of marine INPs, particularly during periods of enhanced biological productivity. Recent mesocosm exper...

One pathway by which the oceans influence climate is via the emission of sea spray that may subsequently influence cloud properties. Sea spray emissions are known to be dependent on atmospheric and oceanic physicochemical parameters, but the potential role of ocean biology on sea spray fluxes remains poorly characterized. Here we show a consistent...

The surface mixed layer (ML) in the Mediterranean Sea is a well stratified domain characterized by low macro-nutrient and low chlorophyll content, during almost 6 months of the year. Nutrient dynamics in the ML depend on allochthonous inputs, through atmospheric deposition and on biological recycling. Here we characterize the biogeochemical cycling...

In spring, the Mediterranean Sea, a well-stratified low-nutrient–low-chlorophyll region, receives atmospheric deposition by both desert dust from the Sahara and airborne particles from anthropogenic sources. Such deposition translates into a supply of new nutrients and trace metals for the surface waters that likely impact biogeochemical cycles. Ho...

La contamination chimique marine en Méditerranée s’inscrit dans un contexte de dégradation généralisée des écosystèmes marins et d’un besoin d’amélioration des bases scientifiques pour décrire le bon état écologique et pour fournir de meilleurs indicateurs l’évolution de cette pression anthropique sur l’environnement. La Méditerranée y est particul...

In Low Nutrient Low Chlorophyll areas, such as the Mediterranean Sea, atmospheric fluxes represent a considerable external source of nutrients likely supporting primary production especially during stratification periods. These areas are expected to expand in the future due to lower nutrient supply from sub-surface waters caused by enhanced stratif...

The release of lithogenic elements (which are often assumed to be insoluble) such as Aluminum (Al), Iron (Fe), Rare Earth Elements (REE), Thorium (Th) and Protactinium (Pa) by Saharan dust reaching Mediterranean seawater was studied through tank experiments over 3 to 4 days under controlled conditions including control without dust addition and dus...

The organic mass fraction from sea spray aerosol (SSA) is currently a subject of intense research. The majority of this research is dedicated to measurements in ambient air, although recently a small number of studies have additionally focused on nascent sea spray aerosol. This work presents measurements collected during a five-week cruise in May a...

Ice nucleating particles (INP) have a large impact on the climate-relevant properties of clouds over the oceans. Studies have shown that sea spray aerosols (SSA), produced upon bursting of bubbles at the ocean surface, can be an important source of marine INP, particularly during periods of enhanced biological productivity. Recent mesocosm experime...

The Sea Surface Microlayer (SML) is known to be enriched by trace metals relative to the underlying water and harbor diverse microbial communities (i.e., neuston). However, the processes linking metals and biota in the SML are not yet fully understood. The metal (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mo, V, Zn and Pb) concentrations in aerosol samples in the SML (di...

Plain Language Summary Microscopic plants and animals in seawater require nutrients to survive. One of these key nutrients is iron, dissolved in seawater at very low concentrations. The growth of around half of the microscopic life in the upper ocean is dependent on the availability of this dissolved iron. These organisms form the bottom of the foo...

In spring, the Mediterranean Sea, a well-stratified low nutrient low chlorophyll region, receives atmospheric deposition both desert dust from the Sahara and airborne particles from anthropogenic sources. Such deposition translates into a supply of new nutrients and trace metals for the surface waters that likely impact biogeochemical cycles. Howev...

Abstract. In spring, the Mediterranean Sea, a well-stratified low nutrient low chlorophyll region, receives atmospheric deposition both desert dust from the Sahara and airborne particles from anthropogenic sources. Such deposition translates into a supply of new nutrients and trace metals for the surface waters that likely impact biogeochemical cyc...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The dissolved iron supply controls half of the oceans’ primary productivity. Resupply by the remineralization of sinking particles, and subsequent vertical mixing, largely sustains this productivity. However, our understanding of the drivers of dissolved iron resupply, and their influence on its vertical distribution across the oceans, is still lim...

The Sea Surface Microlayer (SML) is known to be enriched in trace metals relative to the underlaying water and to harbor diverse microbial communities (i.e. neuston). However, the processes linking metals and biota in the SML are not yet fully understood. In this study, we analyzed the metal (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mo, V, Zn and Pb) concentrations in...

Plain‐Language summary Phytoplankton are microscopic organisms that live in watery environments such as the ocean. Like land plants, phytoplankton need nutrients to survive, develop, and reproduce. In the surface ocean, nutrients come from one of several pathways: from the depths of the ocean, from the rivers, and from the atmosphere. In the Arabia...

Atmospheric deposition is a source of potentially bioavailable iron (Fe) and thus can partially control biological productivity in large parts of the ocean. However, the explanation of observed high aerosol Fe solubility compared to that in soil particles is still controversial, as several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this observation....

This work reports on the current status of the global modeling of iron (Fe) deposition fluxes and atmospheric concentrations and the analyses of the differences between models, as well as between models and observations. A total of four global 3-D chemistry transport (CTMs) and general circulation (GCMs) models participated in this intercomparison,...

Coarse mode aerosols influence Earth's climate and biogeochemistry by interacting with long-wave radiation, promoting ice nucleation, and contributing important elements to biogeochemical cycles during deposition. Yet coarse mode aerosols have received less emphasis in the scientific literature. Here we present first efforts to globally synthesize...

N2 fixation by the genus Trichodesmium is predicted to support a large proportion of the primary productivity across the oligotrophic oceans, regions that are considered among the largest biomes on Earth. Many of these environments remain poorly sampled, limiting our understanding of Trichodesmium physiological ecology in these critical oligotrophi...

Here we report N2 fixation rates from a ∼ 4000 km transect in the western and central tropical South Pacific, a particularly undersampled region in the world ocean. Water samples were collected in the euphotic layer along a west to east transect from 160° E to 160° W that covered contrasting trophic regimes, from oligotrophy in the Melanesian archi...

This work reports on the current status of global modelling of iron (Fe) deposition fluxes and atmospheric concentrations and analyses of the differences between models, as well as between models and observations. A total of four global 3-D chemistry-transport (CTMs) and general circulation (GCMs) models have participated in this intercomparison, i...

We performed nitrogen (N) budgets in the photic layer of three contrasting stations representing different trophic conditions in the western tropical South Pacific (WTSP) Ocean during austral summer conditions (February–March 2015). Using a Lagrangian strategy, we sampled the same water mass for the entire duration of each long-duration (5 days) st...

Processes occurring at the atmosphere-ocean interface are critical to the regulation of the Earth climate and to the delivery of key services provided by marine ecosystems. The Mediterranean Sea, a hot spot for biodiversity but also for climate change and anthropogenic pressure, is an ideal natural laboratory to study these processes. The goal of t...

The bioavailability of iron (Fe) may limit primary production in half of the global ocean. However, most research has focused on sources of new Fe, and little attention has been directed toward controls on the release of dissolved iron (DFe) during particle remineralization at depth. Within the mesopelagic zone, heterotrophic bacterial activity res...

Here we report quantification of N2 fixation rates over a ~ 4000 km transect in the western and central tropical South Pacific. Water samples were collected along a west to east transect from 160° E to 160° W, covering contrasting trophic regimes, from oligotrophy in the Melanesian archipelagoes (MA) waters to ultra-oligotrophy in the South Pacific...