Importance of dissolved organic nitrogen in the north Atlantic Ocean in sustaining primary production: a 3-D modelling approach

• Main Authors: G. Charria, I. Dadou, J. Llido
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.658.9622; http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/1437/2008/bg-5-1437-2008.pdf

Abstract. An eddy-permitting coupled ecosystem-circulation model including dissolved organic matter is used to estimate the dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) supply sus-taining primary production in the subtropical north Atlantic Ocean. After an analysis of the coupled model performances com-pared to the data, a sensitivity study demonstrates the strong impact of parameter values linked to the hydrolysis of par-ticulate organic nitrogen and remineralisation of dissolved organic nitrogen on surface biogeochemical concentrations. The physical transport of dissolved organic nitrogen con-tributes to maintain the level of primary production in this subtropical gyre. It is dominated by the merid-ional component. We estimate a meridional net input of 0.039 molN m−2 yr−1 over the domain (13–35 ◦ N and 71–