Objective Massive amounts of dust (~1 Billion Ton) are blown from the Sahara into and over the Atlantic Ocean every year. This dust strongly alters the atmosphere through blocking incoming solar radiation [cooling the atmosphere] and trapping outgoing heat that was reflected at the earth’s surface [warming the atmosphere]. In addition, aerosols carry huge amounts of metals and nutrients that can boost marine life, but also vast amounts of microbes, spores, and pathogens that are harmful for both marine- and terrestrial (including human!) life. The net effect of cooling/warming and ocean fertilisation/poisoning is presently far from understood as it depends on a complex set of parameters related to dust emission, dispersal, and deposition. In order to quantify these parameters, I propose to develop and apply a novel approach to study the transatlantic flux of Saharan dust and its environmental effect on the ocean by deploying a transect of seven ocean moorings with a dust-collecting surface buoy below the Saharan dust plume from NW Africa to the Caribbean. Sampling dust in air as well as under water at a biweekly resolution for initially one complete year will for the first time allow to: 1) quantify the seasonal variability in Saharan dust export into the Atlantic, 2) distinguish between high-altitude summer plumes versus low-level winter trade-wind transport, 3) quantify source-to-sink changes in particle size and the related (metal, nutrient, and biological-) composition of the dust, and 4) determine the in situ bio-availability of the associated nutrients and their potential fertilisation of the photic zone. These unique, seasonally and spatially resolved data will bridge the gap between the bi-weekly sediment-trap record off Cape Blanc (NW Africa, since '85) and the daily dust fluxes recorded on Barbados (Caribbean, since '73). Subsequently, the data can be extrapolated back in time in marine sediments, which are an archive for dust transport and carbon pump in the past. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologysolar radiation Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-SG-LS9 - ERC Starting Grant - Applied life sciences and biotechnology Call for proposal ERC-2012-StG_20111109 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant Host institution STICHTING KONINKLIJK NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR ZEEONDERZOEK (NIOZ) EU contribution € 1 972 839,14 Address Landsdiep 4 1797 SZ DEN HOORN TEXEL Netherlands See on map Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Henk Brinkhuis (Prof.) Principal investigator Jan-Berend Willem Stuut (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all STICHTING KONINKLIJK NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR ZEEONDERZOEK (NIOZ) Netherlands EU contribution € 1 972 839,14 Address Landsdiep 4 1797 SZ DEN HOORN TEXEL See on map Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Henk Brinkhuis (Prof.) Principal investigator Jan-Berend Willem Stuut (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
