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Persistence of deeply sourced iron in the Pacific Ocean

Significance The vertical supply of dissolved Fe (iron) is insufficient compared with the physiological needs of marine phytoplankton in vast swathes of the open ocean. However, the relative importance of the main sources of “new” Fe to the ocean—continental mineral dust, hydrothermal exhalations, and sediment dissolution—and their temporal evolution are poorly constrained. By analyzing the isotopic composition of Fe in marine sediments, we find that much of the dissolved Fe in the central Pacific Ocean originated from hydrothermal and sedimentary sources thousands of meters below the sea surface. As such, these data underscore the vital role of the oceans’ physical mixing in determining if any deeply sourced Fe ever reaches the Fe-starved surface-dwelling biota. Biological carbon fixation is limited by the supply of Fe in vast regions of the global ocean. Dissolved Fe in seawater is primarily sourced from continental mineral dust, submarine hydrothermalism, and sediment dissolution along continental margins. However, the relative contributions of these three sources to the Fe budget of the open ocean remains contentious. By exploiting the Fe stable isotopic fingerprints of these sources, it is possible to trace distinct Fe pools through marine environments, and through time using sedimentary records. We present a reconstruction of deep-sea Fe isotopic compositions from a Pacific Fe−Mn crust spanning the past 76 My. We find that there have been large and systematic changes in the Fe isotopic composition of seawater over the Cenozoic that reflect the influence of several, distinct Fe sources to the central Pacific Ocean. Given that deeply sourced Fe from hydrothermalism and marginal sediment dissolution exhibit the largest Fe isotopic variations in modern oceanic settings, the record requires that these deep Fe sources have exerted a major control over the Fe inventory of the Pacific for the past 76 My. The persistence of deeply sourced Fe in the Pacific Ocean illustrates that multiple sources contribute to the total Fe budget of the ocean and highlights the importance of oceanic circulation in determining if deeply sourced Fe is ever ventilated at the surface.