report that the direct transport of materials
by sea ice is an important feature of materials cycling in and
around the Sea of Okhotsk. They measured Fe in sea-ice samples
collected from the southern Sea of Okhotsk in winter and quantitatively
evaluated Fe transport. They estimated that about 30,000
tons of Fe are transported from the northwestern continental shelf
to the southern Okhotsk Sea every winter, and they suggest that
sea ice, by contributing to phytoplankton growth through the
release of Fe into the water column in spring, may have a large
impact on biogeochemical cycling.