[ESS] Xingchen Wang (Boston College)
Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 Time: 10:00 - 11:00am Location: 55-110 | MIT Campus, Cambridge, MA Attend Virtually“Ocean fertilization, carbon sequestration, and deoxygenation: From Miocene to Anthropocene”
Ocean fertilization—the addition of limiting nutrients such as iron, nitrogen, or phosphorus to nutrient-poor surface waters—is currently being explored as a potential method for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal. While this approach may enhance primary productivity and organic carbon export, its long-term efficacy in sequestering carbon in the deep ocean remains uncertain. Moreover, increased export of organic matter to subsurface waters could intensify deoxygenation, potentially expanding “dead zones” where most animals cannot survive. In this talk, I will examine several historical case studies that may shed light on these dynamics: (1) phosphorus fertilization and the origins of the largest dead zones in the eastern Pacific Ocean eight million years ago; (2) iron fertilization from dust and hydrothermal sources during the Pleistocene glacial periods and its effect on atmospheric CO₂; and (3) anthropogenic nitrogen fertilization and its impact on dead zones in the coastal ocean.
Earth Science Seminar —
Lecture portion of the EAPS graduate-level class 12.571, covering current research in geophysics, geology, geochemistry, and geobiology. All members of the MIT community are welcome to join for presentations by guest speakers, held approximately every two weeks during the term.