A new study on the feeding habits of ocean microbes calls
into question the potential use of algal blooms to trap carbon dioxide and
offset rising global levels.
These blooms contain iron-eating microscopic phytoplankton
that absorb C02 from the air through the process of photosynthesis and provide
nutrients for marine life. But one type of phytoplankton, a diatom, is using
more iron that it needs for photosynthesis and storing the extra in its silica
skeletons and shells, according to an X-ray analysis of phytoplankton conducted
at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. This reduces
the amount of iron left over to support the carbon-eating plankton.