A study finds that biomass burning may be a more important source of soluble phosphorus to the Amazon Basin and Tropical Atlantic Ocean than aerosolized dust. Phosphorus that stimulates primary productivity in the Amazon Basin and Tropical Atlantic Ocean was thought to be delivered by dust transported from Africa. However, measurements of African dust and soluble phosphorus are scarce. Cassandra J. Gaston and colleagues measured year-round total and soluble phosphorus amounts in aerosols in French Guiana. In boreal spring, African dust provides the majority of phosphorus to the Amazon Basin and Tropical Atlantic Ocean. However, during boreal fall, when dust transport is at a minimum, the authors recorded an unusually high amount of phosphorus in aerosols transported from Africa. Further analysis and chemical transport modeling traced the phosphorus-rich aerosols to biomass burning in southern Africa. The authors suggest that biomass burning may supply up to half of the phosphorus delivered annually to the Amazon. According to the authors, biomass burning could be a more significant nutrient source to the Amazon and Tropical Atlantic Ocean than dust.
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Article #19-06091: "African biomass burning is a substantial source of phosphorus deposition to the Amazon, Tropical Atlantic Ocean, and Southern Ocean," by Anne Barkley et al.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences