A great paper from Germany on Aleutian Volcano Kasatochi Iron Replenishment of Gulf of Alaska
Brings Back The Fish by replenishing vital mineral micro-nutrients to Gulf of Alaska ocean pastures.
Abstract: The Kasatochi volcanic eruption that occurred in the central Aleutian Islands in Alaska, USA, in August 2008 is thought to have induced a massive diatom bloom in the iron-limited waters of the Gulf of Alaska, which potentially affected the oceanic food web by increasing the abundance of zooplankton and sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka in the northeast Pacific Ocean.
Our study suggests that the amount of iron released from Kasatochi ash (an increase of 2.0 to 2.8 nM Fe) was indeed sufficient to cause the observed phytoplankton bloom in the northeastern Pacific Gyre, while the impact of macronutrient release was minimal. We further evaluated the multiple, interdependent processes in the oceanic food web related to the diatom bloom, involving the ocean survival of juvenile salmon that entered the northeast Pacific Ocean in the summer of 2008.
Read the paper via the link below.