Bioturbation and the d56Fe Signature of Dissolved Iron Fluxes from
Marine Sediments
Abstract
Iron is a key limiting nutrient for phytoplankton. Continental shelf and
slope sediments are important sources of dissolved iron (DFe). Stable
iron isotopes (d56Fe) are a particularly useful tool to quantify the DFe
sources and sinks in the ocean. The isotopic signature of the
sedimentary DFe source is controlled by environmental factors such as
bottom water redox conditions, carbon oxidation and bioturbation by
burrowing fauna, but the exact relation on a global scale is poorly
understood. We developed a reaction-transport model capable of tracing
dissolved iron isotope fractionation in marine sediments to quantify the
isotopic signature of benthic DFe fluxes under a wide range of
environmental conditions. We derived fractionation factors for iron
reduction (-1.3 permille), iron oxidation (+0.4 permille), iron sulphide
precipitation (+0.5 permille and dissolution (-0.5 permille and pyrite
precipitation (-0.7 permille) that were in line with existing
literature. At bottom-water oxygen concentrations >50 µM,
bioturbation increased the benthic DFe flux and increased the d56Fe
signature. In contrast, at bottom-water oxygen concentrations
<50 µM, a reduction in bioturbation led to a decrease in the
benthic DFe flux and its d56Fe value. On a global scale, a model
simulation without bioturbation decreased the sedimentary DFe release
from ~158 Gmol DFe yr-1 to ~70 Gmol DFe
yr-1, and decreased the variability in the d56Fe signature of the DFe
flux. Finally, we find that a decrease in ocean oxygen content by 40 µM
can increase global sedimentary DFe release by up to 103 Gmol DFe yr-1.