Dissolved iron (dFe) plays an important role in regulating marine biological productivity. In high nutrient, low chlorophyll (HNLC) regions (> 33% of the global ocean) iron is the primary growth limiting nutrient, and elsewhere can regulate nitrogen fixation and growth by diazotrophs. Overall, dFe supply potentially impacts half of global ocean productivity. The link between iron availability and carbon export is strongly dependent on the phytoplankton iron quotas, or cellular Fe:C ratios. This ratio can vary by more than an order of magnitude in the open ocean and is positively correlated with ambient dFe concentration in sparse field observations. The Community Earth System Model (CESM) ocean component has been modified to simulate dynamic, group-specific, phytoplankton iron quotas (Fe:C) that vary as a function of ambient iron concentration. The simulated Fe:C ratios match the spatial trends in the observations and improve the correlation with global-scale, observed nutrient distributions. Acclimation of phytoplankton Fe:C ratios dampens the biogeochemical response to varying atmospheric deposition fluxes of soluble iron, compared to a model with fixed Fe:C. However, varying atmospheric soluble iron supply still has first order impacts on global carbon and nitrogen fluxes, and on the spatial patterns of nutrient limitation; both of which are strongly sensitive to changes in pyrogenic sources of iron. Accounting for dynamic, phytoplankton iron quotas is critical for capturing the ocean biogeochemical responses to varying atmospheric soluble iron inputs, including expected changes in both the mineral dust and pyrogenic sources with climate warming and anthropogenic activity.