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

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 (N) versus phosphate (P) have previously been used to complem...

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Bibliographic Details
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-2021-45
https://bg.copernicus.org/preprints/bg-2021-45/
Description
Summary: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 (N) versus phosphate (P) 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 N / P 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, as well as organic material in historical and paleoceanographic archives along the Northwest Atlantic margin.

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