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

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Sherwood, Owen A., Davin, Samuel H., Lehmann, Nadine, Buchwald, Carolyn, Edinger, Evan N., Lehmann, Moritz F., Kienast, Markus
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Pacific; North Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4491-2021; https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/4491/2021/

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 (NO <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><msubsup><mi/><mn mathvariant="normal">3</mn><mo>-</mo></msubsup></mrow></math> <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="9pt" height="16pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="5c4cefaf8b78d41c1ce2f2ef151f712f"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00001.svg" width="9pt" height="16pt" src="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg> ) versus phosphate (PO <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><msubsup><mi/><mn mathvariant="normal">4</mn><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">3</mn><mo>-</mo></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math> <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13pt" height="17pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="2a55aaddcd6f6e19827895ad406d0cde"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00002.svg" width="13pt" height="17pt" src="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg> ) 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 NO <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><msubsup><mi/><mn mathvariant="normal">3</mn><mo>-</mo></msubsup></mrow></math> <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="9pt" height="16pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="0aaab3ee324d7a9ba8e4b96f67d8036e"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00003.svg" width="9pt" height="16pt" src="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00003.png"/></svg:svg> : PO <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><msubsup><mi/><mn mathvariant="normal">4</mn><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">3</mn><mo>-</mo></mrow></msubsup></mrow></math> <svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13pt" height="17pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="7f061630cc7a553581bebfa758ce3c6c"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00004.svg" width="13pt" height="17pt" src="bg-18-4491-2021-ie00004.png"/></svg:svg> 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 δ 15 N signatures incorporated into both modern marine biomass and organic material in historical and paleoceanographic archives along the northwest Atlantic margin.