what is iron used for in phytoplankton
Iron fertilization is the intentional introduction of iron to the upper ocean to stimulate a phytoplankton bloom. This is intended to enhance biological productivity, which can benefit the marine food chain and is under investigation in hopes of increasing carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere.Iron is a trace element necessary for photosynthesis in all plants.It is highly insoluble in sea water and is often the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth. Large algal blooms can be created by supplying iron to iron-deficient ocean waters.urrent estimates of the amount of iron required to restore all the lost plankton and sequester 3 gigatons /year of CO 2 range widely, from approximately 2 hundred thousand tons/year to over 4 million tons/year.