N(2)O dynamics in the western Arctic Ocean during the summer of 2017

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Heo, Jang-Mu, Kim, Seong-Su, Kang, Sung-Ho, Yang, Eun Jin, Park, Ki-Tae, Jung, Jinyoung, Cho, Kyoung-Ho, Kim, Ju-Hyoung, Macdonald, Alison M., Yoon, Joo-Eun, Kim, Hyo-Ryeon, Eom, Sang-Min, Lim, Jae-Hyun, Kim, Il-Nam
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group UK 2021
• Subjects: Article; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Chukchi Sea; Chukchi; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8206351/; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92009-1

The western Arctic Ocean (WAO) has experienced increased heat transport into the region, sea-ice reduction, and changes to the WAO nitrous oxide (N(2)O) cycles from greenhouse gases. We investigated WAO N(2)O dynamics through an intensive and precise N(2)O survey during the open-water season of summer 2017. The effects of physical processes (i.e., solubility and advection) were dominant in both the surface (0–50 m) and deep layers (200–2200 m) of the northern Chukchi Sea with an under-saturation of N(2)O. By contrast, both the surface layer (0–50 m) of the southern Chukchi Sea and the intermediate (50–200 m) layer of the northern Chukchi Sea were significantly influenced by biogeochemically derived N(2)O production (i.e., through nitrification), with N(2)O over-saturation. During summer 2017, the southern region acted as a source of atmospheric N(2)O (mean: + 2.3 ± 2.7 μmol N(2)O m(−2) day(−1)), whereas the northern region acted as a sink (mean − 1.3 ± 1.5 μmol N(2)O m(−2) day(−1)). If Arctic environmental changes continue to accelerate and consequently drive the productivity of the Arctic Ocean, the WAO may become a N(2)O “hot spot”, and therefore, a key region requiring continued observations to both understand N(2)O dynamics and possibly predict their future changes.