Kīlauea volcano eruption fosters algae bloom in North Pacific Ocean

40 points by curtis 5 years ago | 8 comments
  • opwieurposiu 5 years ago
    Pumping nutrient rich water from the deep ocean to the surface is one proposed way of increasing ocean productivity to repair fish stocks and sequester carbon.

    This volcano has provided a natural demonstration of this effect.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_fertilization

    • LorenPechtel 5 years ago
      Fish, yes, but it doesn't help with global warming. The problem is that while you sequester a lot of carbon you end up converting some of the carbon from CO2 to CH4--and that's a much stronger greenhouse gas.
  • catwind7 5 years ago
    very interesting! could someone explain why the hot water would lead to deep, cold water being brought to the surface? I thought hot water is less dense than cold water. Wouldn't it just sit on the surface for a long time?

    Or is there just such a large amount of this extremely hot water that the mixing overtime generates movement across the board?

    • alikim 5 years ago
      I think it's that, as the lava sinks to the ocean floor, it warms the colder, nutrient rich water at depth and causes it to rise.
      • pvaldes 5 years ago
        Exactly this. Warm water is less dense than cold water and "floats" over it. The volcano has created a temporary nursery for fishes basically.
      • strmpnk 5 years ago
        The lava is pouring into the deeper cold water and causing it to rise. At least that’s how I read it.
        • catwind7 5 years ago
          oh yeah that makes more sense i misread it as water but they meant lava. woops
        • aaron695 5 years ago
          Not clear if it just warmed the water and it rose or it created a system that also dragged cold water up. But it was the nutrients in the water that seem to matter.

          (Also a huge huge carbon sink, might negate the volcano's CO2 emissions)

          10.1126/science.aax4767

          Subsequent remotely operated vehicle observations during September 2018 confirmed that lava intrusions ultimately reached depths of 725 m, and low-temperature venting directly associated with the fresh lava deposits was also observed (23). Upwelled waters from this depth would contain sufficient concentrations of nitrate to fuel the observed phytoplankton bloom. After the lava flow substantially decreased on 6 August, the much smaller flow that lasted for an additional month was insufficient to cause buoyant plumes of nutrient-rich deep water