Category: Uncategorized

IRON SEEDING CALCULATIONS. "If phytoplankton converted all the nitrate and phosphate ... across the entire Antarctic circumpolar current into organic carbon, the resulting carbon dioxide deficit could be compensated by uptake from the atmosphere amounting to about 0.8 to 1.4 gigatonnes of carbon per year. This quantity is comparable in magnitude to annual anthropogenic fossil fuels combustion of approximately 6 gigatonnes... the Antarctic circumpolar current region is only one of several in which iron fertilization could be conducted."" " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

IRON SEEDING: THE SCIENCE."The maximum possible result from iron fertilization, assuming the most favourable conditions and disregarding practical considerations, is 0.29W/m2 of globally averaged negative forcing, which is almost sufficient to reverse the warming effect of about 1/6 of current levels of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. It is notable, however, that the addition of silicic acid or choosing the proper location could, at least theoretically, eliminate and exceed all man-made CO2."" " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

OCEANIC IRON SEEDING has been the subject of recent scientific studies to test the Martin Iron Hypothesis, namely that phytoplankton blooms will be stimulated. The wide genetic and metabolic heterogeneity of phytoplankton and their attendant viral populations are too complex to predict a dominant bloom species. " "Given the enormity of the unknowns in phytoplankton and virus interactions, and the ecological web of life that spans from this, it perhaps seems at best optimistic to believe that iron seeding will help global warming. " " http://lnkd.in/dFkbqUn View in LinkedIn

VIRUSES INFECT COPEPODS which feed on phytoplankton. This was only described in 2013. "Marine free-floating plants called phytoplankton sequester about half of the carbon dioxide that is pulled from the atmosphere and fixed in plant cells during photosynthesis. Copepods play a key role in the process by consuming most of the oceans' phytoplankton, which they defecate as pellets that sink to the ocean floor, thereby locking up atmospheric carbon for thousands of years."" " http://lnkd.in/dGEHSDx View in LinkedIn

MARINE VIRUSES: MAJOR OCEANIC PLAYERS. About 10(30) viruses exist in earth's oceans which if stretched end to end would cover 60 galaxies. Every second 10(23) viral infections occur in oceans, many introducing new genes into phytoplankton and boosting their considerable genetic diversity. " " http://lnkd.in/dJ3X-aZ View in LinkedIn

NOVEL OCEANIC VIRUSES REDEFINE VIRUSES. "Scientists have discovered a pair of viruses that defy classification. Bigger and more genetically complex than any viral genus known to science, these so-called "pandoraviruses" could reignite a longstanding debate over the classification of life itself. Pandoraviruses, in other words, are more than just huge – they're also unmistakably distinct from any known virus on Earth – including other giant viruses."" " http://lnkd.in/dHu56yC View in LinkedIn

VIRUSES MUCK UP DARWIN'S TREE OF LIFE. "The tree concept is challenged by the occurrence of horizontal gene transfer and ... by the omission of viruses. Viral genomics have revealed an unexpected size and distinctness of the viral DNA sequence space. Comparative genomics has shown elements of vertical evolution in some groups of viruses. Furthermore, structural biology has demonstrated links between viruses infecting the three domains of life."" " http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1527/2263.full View in LinkedIn

NOVEL VIRUSES DISCOVERED. "Two new viral families whose members are the largest known viruses based on the sizes of the capsid and the genome; mimiviruses and marseilleviruses exhibit several unexpected and remarkable features. Their genomes encode proteins involved in translation, these viruses harbour messenger ribonucleic acid in addition to their double‐stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) genome, and their gene repertoire indicates that they have a common ancestral origin with other large DNA viruses."" " http://www.els.net/WileyCDA/ElsArticle/refId-a0024409.html View in LinkedIn

VIRAL LOOP OF PHYTOPLANKTON VIRUSES" ""mediate carbon and nutrient transfer from the particulate form (bacteria) to the dissolved form—the so-called viral loop through which up to a quarter of the organic matter in the sea flows. Hence, marine viruses directly affect ocean-scale processes and global biogeochemical cycles."" " http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/zR9Mryi7RSmFEZFUsNZT/full/10.1146/annurev-marine-010213-135108 View in LinkedIn

THE VIRAL SHUNT. "Ocean viruses were the inspiration for early hypotheses of the so-called “viral shunt,” by which viral killing of microbial hosts redirects carbon and nutrients away from larger organisms and back toward other microorganisms. Furthermore, researchers analyzing oceanic life have discovered many novel viruses that defy much of the conventional wisdom about what a virus is and what a virus does."" " http://lnkd.in/dzmPw57 View in LinkedIn