Although iron availability has been shown to limit ocean productivity and influence marine carbon cycling, the rates of processes driving iron's removal and retention in the upper ocean are poorly constrained. Using(234)Th- and sediment-trap data, most of which were collected through international GEOTRACES efforts, we perform an unprecedented observation-based assessment of iron export from and residence time in the upper ocean. The majority of these new residence time estimates for total iron in the surface ocean (0-250 m) fall between 10 and 100 days. The upper ocean residence time of dissolved iron, on the other hand, varies and cycles on sub-annual to annual timescales. Collectively, these residence times are shorter than previously thought, and the rates and timescales presented here will contribute to ongoing efforts to integrate iron into global biogeochemical models predicting climate and carbon dioxide sequestration in the ocean in the 21st century and beyond.

中文翻译：

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消除动态上层海洋中 Fe 的停留时间

尽管铁的可用性已被证明会限制海洋生产力并影响海洋碳循环，但推动铁在上层海洋中去除和保留的过程的速率受到很大限制。使用 (234) Th 和沉积物圈闭数据，其中大部分是通过国际 GEOTRACES 工作收集的，我们对上层海洋的铁输出和停留时间进行了前所未有的基于观测的评估。这些对表层海洋 (0-250 m) 中总铁的新停留时间估计值大多在 10 到 100 天之间。另一方面，溶解铁的上层海洋停留时间在次年到年的时间尺度上变化和循环。总的来说，这些停留时间比以前想象的要短，