How do you "seed the ocean with iron"?

Question

Thanks Trevor.I knew what Phytoplankton was,just wasn't sure if the tech. used was quite that literal

Answer 1

Hello again Philip,

Does this question relate to the one posted not so long back about phytoplankton? if so...

Phytoplankton are minute marine plants that exist in vast number in the oceans, from space they can be seen as dark green-blue coloured blooms. Some parts of the oceans are deficient in certain minerals and are not condusive to phytoplankton.

It has been suggested that seeding these deficient parts of the oceans with iron filings would stimulate the growth of phytoplankton as iron is an essential nutrient for photosynthesis to take place.

It has been tried in the past but wasn't very successful. A company called Planktos has either recently or is about to try again by adding iron filings to the ocean around the Galapagos Islands. They were planning this a few weeks ago, I don't know what's happened since.

Answer 2

You dump a bunch of very small pieces of iron over the side of a ship.

This article is pretty balanced about it:

http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=9779&tid=282&cid=886&ct=162

Answer 3

I think it's a very BAD idea. So do these folks:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070627/pl_usnw/world_wildlife_fund_warns_against_iron_dumping_experiment_near_the_galapagos_islands