10.5061/DRYAD.HQ8K8
Kritzberg, Emma S.
Lund University
Bedmar Villanueva, Ana
Lund University
Jung, Marco
Lund University
Reader, Heather E.
Lund University
Data from: Importance of boreal rivers in providing iron to marine waters
Dryad
dataset
2015
2015-08-19T00:00:00Z
2015-08-19T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107500
142354 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
This study reports increasing iron concentrations in rivers draining into
the Baltic Sea. Given the decisive role of iron to the structure and
biogeochemical function of aquatic ecosystems, this trend is likely one
with far reaching consequences to the receiving system. What those
consequences may be depends on the fate of the iron in estuarine mixing.
We here assess the stability of riverine iron by mixing water from seven
boreal rivers with artificial sea salts. The results show a gradual loss
of iron from suspension with increasing salinity. However, the capacity of
the different river waters to maintain iron in suspension varied greatly,
i.e. between 1 and 54% of iron was in suspension at a salinity of 30. The
variability was best explained by iron:organic carbon ratios in the
riverine waters – the lower the ratio the more iron remained in
suspension. Water with an initially low iron:organic carbon ratio could
keep even higher than ambient concentrations of Fe in suspension across
the salinity gradient, as shown in experiments with iron amendments.
Moreover, there was a positive relationship between the molecular size of
the riverine organic matter and the amount of iron in suspension. In all,
the results point towards a remarkably high transport capacity of iron
from boreal rivers, suggesting that increasing concentrations of iron in
river mouths may result in higher concentrations of potentially
bioavailable iron in the marine system.
Data underlying the conclusions made in the paperMonitoring and
experimental data.Archive for PLOS ONE.xlsx