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The tropical Pacific is one of the largest ocean regions on Earth where the trace element iron limits new primary production and therefore the efficiency of carbon export to the deep sea. Although there is a long history of marine biogeochemical research in the tropical Pacific, recent advancements using GEOTRACES key parameters such as iron and nitrate isotopes (nitrate δ15N and δ18O) make this a good time to review the current understanding of tropical Pacific nitrate dynamics—how both regional subsurface nitrate characteristics and surface ocean nitrate utilization change with time. While this article provides a comprehensive overview of the biological, chemical, and physical processes shaping equatorial Pacific subsurface-to-surface nutrients, it principally explores the findings from the first nitrate isotope time series in iron-limited high nutrient, low chlorophyll waters. Results indicate that the preferential recycling of bioavailable iron within the euphotic zone is required to explain even the lowest observed nitrate utilization in the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP). Furthermore, because seasonal-to-interannual nitrate utilization variability in the EEP cannot be driven by changes in iron supply, this work argues that iron recycling (and therefore bioavailable iron) is modulated by upwelling rate changes, creating a predicted and recently observed spectrum of iron limitation in the iron-limited EEP surface waters. In other words, upper ocean physics overwhelmingly dominates seasonal-to-interannual nitrate utilization in the iron-limited EEP. This new understanding of nitrate utilization in iron-limited waters helps to explain long-term changes in past equatorial Pacific nitrate utilization obtained via sedimentary proxy records and potentially complicates the efficacy of future iron fertilization of the equatorial Pacific.
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Stable isotopes of nitrate record effects of the 2015–2016 El Niño and diatom iron limitation on nitrogen cycling in the eastern North Pacific Ocean
Abstract In eastern boundary current systems, strong coastal upwelling brings deep, nutrient‐rich waters to the surface ocean, supporting a productive food web. The nitrate load in water masses that supply the region can be impacted by a variety of climate‐related processes that subsequently modulate primary productivity. In this study, two coastal upwelling regimes along central and southern California were sampled seasonally for nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes of nitrate (i.e., nitrate isotopes) over several years (2010–2016) on 14 California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) cruises. Seasonal, interannual, and spatial variations in euphotic zone nitrate isotopes were largely driven by the extent of nitrate utilization, sometimes linked to iron limitation of diatom productivity. Pronounced isotopic enrichment developed with the El Niño conditions in late 2015 and early 2016 which likely resulted from increased nitrate utilization linked to reduced nitrate supply to the euphotic zone. Differential enrichment of nitrogen and oxygen isotopes was observed in the surface ocean, suggesting that phytoplankton increased their reliance on locally nitrified (recycled) nitrate during warmer and more stratified periods. Overall, nitrate isotopes effectively differentiated important euphotic zone processes such as nitrate assimilation and nitrification, while archiving the influence of disparate controls such as iron limitation and climatic events through their effects on nitrate utilization and isotopic fractionation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1637632
- PAR ID:
- 10444123
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Limnology and Oceanography
- Volume:
- 67
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 0024-3590
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 2140-2156
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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