Stable isotope ratios in seawater nitrate reflect the influence of Pacific water along the northwest Atlantic margin

Autor: O. A. Sherwood, S. H. Davin, N. Lehmann, C. Buchwald, E. N. Edinger, M. F. Lehmann, M. Kienast
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biogeosciences, Vol 18, Pp 4491-4510 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 4491-2021
1726-4170
1726-4189
DOI: 10.5194/bg-18-4491-2021
Popis: The flow of Pacific water to the North Atlantic exerts a globally significant control on nutrient balances between the two ocean basins and strongly influences biological productivity in the northwest Atlantic. Nutrient ratios of nitrate (NO3-) versus phosphate (PO43-) have previously been used to complement salinity characteristics in tracing the distribution of Pacific water in the North Atlantic. We expand on this premise and demonstrate that the fraction of Pacific water as determined by NO3- : PO43- ratios can be quantitatively predicted from the isotopic composition of sub-euphotic nitrate in the northwest Atlantic. Our linear model thus provides a critically important framework for interpreting δ15N signatures incorporated into both modern marine biomass and organic material in historical and paleoceanographic archives along the northwest Atlantic margin.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals