Search for: All records

The spatial distribution of marine di-nitrogen (N₂) fixation informs our understanding of the sensitivities of this process as well as the potential for this new nitrogen (N) source to drive export production, influencing the global carbon (C) cycle and climate. Using geochemically-derived δ¹⁵N budgets, we quantified rates of N₂fixation and its importance for supporting export production at stations sampled near the southwest Pacific Tonga-Kermadec Arc. Recent observations indicate that shallow (<300 m) hydrothermal vents located along the arc provide significant dissolved iron to the euphotic zone, stimulating N₂fixation. Here we compare measurements of water column δ¹⁵N_NO3+NO2with sinking particulate δ¹⁵N collected by short-term sediment traps deployed at 170 m and 270 m at stations in close proximity to subsurface hydrothermal activity, and the δ¹⁵N of N₂fixation. Results from the δ¹⁵N budgets yield high geochemically-based N₂fixation rates (282 to 638 µmol N m^-2d^-1) at stations impacted by hydrothermal activity, supporting 64 to 92% of export production in late spring. These results are consistent with contemporaneous¹⁵N₂uptake rate estimates and molecular work describing highTrichodesmiumspp. and other diazotroph abundances associated with elevated N₂fixation rates. Further, the δ¹⁵N of sinking particulate N collected at 1000 m over an annual cycle revealed sinking fluxes peaked in the summer and coincided with the lowest δ¹⁵N, while lower winter sinking fluxes had the highest δ¹⁵N, indicating isotopically distinct N sources supporting export seasonally, and aligning with observations from most other δ¹⁵N budgets in oligotrophic regions. Consequently, the significant regional N₂fixation input to the late spring/summer Western Tropical South Pacific results in the accumulation of low-δ¹⁵N_NO3+NO2in the upper thermocline that works to lower the elevated δ¹⁵N_NO3+NO2generated in the oxygen deficient zones in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific.

 

Surface ocean marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) serves as an important reservoir of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in the global ocean, and is produced and consumed by both autotrophic and heterotrophic communities. While prior work has described distributions of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) concentrations, our understanding of DOC:DON:DOP stoichiometry in the global surface ocean has been limited by the availability of DOP concentration measurements. Here, we estimate mean surface ocean bulk and semi‐labile DOC:DON:DOP stoichiometry in biogeochemically and geographically defined regions using newly available marine DOM concentration databases. Global mean surface ocean bulk (C:N:P = 387:26:1) and semi‐labile (C:N:P = 179:20:1) DOM stoichiometries are higher than Redfield stoichiometry, with semi‐labile DOM stoichiometry similar to that of global mean surface ocean particulate organic matter (C:N:P = 160:21:1) reported in a recent compilation. DOM stoichiometry varies across ocean basins, ranging from 251:17:1 to 638:43:1 for bulk and 83:15:1 to 414:49:1 for semi‐labile DOM C:N:P, respectively. Surface ocean DOP concentration exhibits larger relative changes than DOC and DON, driving surface ocean gradients in DOC:DON:DOP stoichiometry. Inferred autotrophic consumption of DOP helps explain intra‐ and inter‐basin patterns of marine DOM C:N:P stoichiometry, with regional patterns of water column denitrification and iron supply influencing the biogeochemical conditions favoring DOP use as an organic nutrient. Specifically, surface ocean marine DOM exhibits increasingly P‐depleted stoichiometries from east to west in the Pacific and from south to north in the Atlantic, consistent with patterns of increasing P stress and alleviated iron stress.

 

Shallow submarine hydrothermal vents can supply the iron needed to fuel phytoplankton blooms. 

Abstract Dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) concentration distributions in the global surface ocean inform our understanding of marine biogeochemical processes such as nitrogen fixation and primary production. The spatial distribution of DOP concentrations in the surface ocean reflect production by primary producers and consumption as an organic nutrient by phytoplankton including diazotrophs and other microbes, as well as other loss processes such as photolysis. Compared to dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, however, relatively few marine DOP concentration measurements have been made, largely due to the lack of automated analysis techniques. Here we present a database of marine DOP concentration measurements (DOPv2021) that includes new (n = 730) and previously published (n = 3140) observations made over the last ~30 years (1990–2021), including 1751 observations in the upper 50 m. This dataset encompasses observations from all major ocean basins including the poorly represented Indian, South Pacific, and Southern Oceans and provides insight into spatial distributions of DOP in the ocean. It is also valuable for researchers who work on marine primary production and nitrogen fixation. 

The cyanobacterium  Trichodesmium  plays an essential role supporting ocean productivity by relieving nitrogen limitation via dinitrogen (N 2 ) fixation. The two common Trichodesmium clades,  T. erythraeum  and  T. thiebautii , are both observed in waters along the West Florida Shelf (WFS). We hypothesized that these taxa occupy distinct realized niches, where  T. thiebautii  is the more oceanic clade. Samples for DNA and water chemistry analyses were collected on three separate WFS expeditions (2015, 2018, and 2019) spanning multiple seasons; abundances of the single copy housekeeping gene  rnpB  from both clades were enumerated via quantitative PCR. We conducted a suite of statistical analyses to assess Trichodesmium  clade abundances in the context of the physicochemical data. We observed a consistent coastal vs. open ocean separation of the two clades:  T. erythraeum  was found in shallow waters where the concentrations of dissolved iron (dFe) and the groundwater tracer Ba were significantly higher, while  T. thiebautii  abundance was positively correlated with water column depth. The Loop Current intrusion in 2015 with entrained Missisippi River water brought higher dFe and elevated abundance of both clades offshore of the 50 m isobath, suggesting that both clades are subject to Fe limitation on the outer shelf. Whereas, previous work has observed that  T. thiebautii  is more abundant than  T. erythraeum  in open ocean surface waters, this is the first study to examine  Trichodesmium  niche differentiation in a coastal environment. Understanding the environmental niches of these two key taxa bears important implications for their contributions to global nitrogen and carbon cycling and their response to global climate change. 

Marine dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen (DOC and DON) are major global carbon and nutrient reservoirs, and their characterization relies on extraction methods for preconcentration and salt removal. Existing methods optimize for capturing and describing DOC. Here, we report an optimized analytical strategy to recover marine DON for subsequent molecular characterization. Retention efficiencies between 5% and 95% are reported for seven solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbents, with PPL recovering 23% of marine DON compared to 95% recovered with C₁₈. Additional comparisons of the effect of varying sample volumes and elution speed, and the resulting molecular composition of DON extracts, were investigated using C₁₈and PPL sorbents. Sample volumes > 200 mL decreased DON retention efficiency independent of SPE sorbent, and gravity elution recovered 1.7‐ to 4.2‐fold more DON compared to vacuum elution. Characterization of extracted DON by negative‐ion electrospray ionization Fourier transform‐ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT‐ICR MS) highlights compositional differences between DON species recovered by each method. DON isolated with optimized methods includes low molecular weight (< 600 Da) peptide‐like compounds with low O:C ratios (0.2 to 0.5) that are not detected by other SPE sorbents (e.g., PPL). The majority of additional DON isolated with this approach was undetectable by direct infusion negative mode FT‐ICR MS analysis.

 

Western Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) undertake long-distance migrations from rich feeding grounds in the North Atlantic to spawn in oligotrophic waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Stock recruitment is strongly affected by interannual variability in the physical features associated with ABT larvae, but the nutrient sources and food-web structure of preferred habitat, the edges of anticyclonic loop eddies, are unknown. Here, we describe the goals, physical context, design and major findings of an end-to-end process study conducted during peak ABT spawning in May 2017 and 2018. Mesoscale features in the oceanic GoM were surveyed for larvae, and five multi-day Lagrangian experiments measured hydrography and nutrients; plankton biomass and composition from bacteria to zooplankton and fish larvae; phytoplankton nutrient uptake, productivity and taxon-specific growth rates; micro- and mesozooplankton grazing; particle export; and ABT larval feeding and growth rates. We provide a general introduction to the BLOOFINZ-GoM project (Bluefin tuna Larvae in Oligotrophic Ocean Foodwebs, Investigation of Nitrogen to Zooplankton) and highlight the finding, based on backtracking of experimental waters to their positions weeks earlier, that lateral transport from the continental slope region may be more of a key determinant of available habitat utilized by larvae than eddy edges per se.

 

Marine dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) serves as an organic nutrient to marine autotrophs, sustaining a portion of annual net community production (ANCP). Numerical models of ocean circulation and biogeochemistry have diagnosed the magnitude of this process at regional to global scales but have thus far been validated against DOP observations concentrated within the Atlantic basin. Here we assimilate a new marine DOP data set with global coverage to optimize an inverse model of the ocean phosphorus cycle to investigate the regionally variable role of marine DOP utilization by autotrophs contributing to ANCP. We find ∼25% of ANCP accumulates as DOP with a regionally variable pattern ranging from 8% to 50% across nine biomes investigated. Estimated mean surface ocean DOP lifetimes of ∼0.5–2 years allow for transport of DOP from regions of net production to net consumption in subtropical gyres. Globally, DOP utilization by autotrophs sustains ∼14% (0.9 Pg C yr⁻¹) of ANCP with regional contributions as large as ∼75% within the oligotrophic North Atlantic and North Pacific. Shallow export and remineralization of DOP within the ocean subtropics contributes ∼30%–80% of phosphate regeneration within the upper thermocline (<300 m). These shallow isopycnals beneath the subtropical gyres harboring the preponderance of remineralized DOP outcrop near the poleward edge of each gyre, which when combined with subsequent lateral transport equatorward by Ekman convergence, provide a shallow overturning loop retaining phosphorus within the subtropical biome, likely helping to sustain gyre ANCP over multiannual to decadal timescales.

 

Abstract The availability of nitrogen (N) in ocean surface waters affects rates of photosynthesis and marine ecosystem structure. In spite of low dissolved inorganic N concentrations, export production in oligotrophic waters is comparable to more nutrient replete regions. Prior observations raise the possibility that di-nitrogen (N2) fixation supplies a significant fraction of N supporting export production in the Gulf of Mexico. In this study, geochemical tools were used to quantify the relative and absolute importance of both subsurface nitrate and N2 fixation as sources of new N fueling export production in the oligotrophic Gulf of Mexico in May 2017 and May 2018. Comparing the isotopic composition (“δ15N”) of nitrate with the δ15N of sinking particulate N collected during five sediment trap deployments each lasting two to four days indicates that N2 fixation is typically not detected and that the majority (≥80%) of export production is supported by subsurface nitrate. Moreover, no gradients in upper ocean dissolved organic N and suspended particulate N concentration and/or δ15N were found that would indicate significant N2 fixation fluxes accumulated in these pools, consistent with low Trichodesmium spp. abundance. Finally, comparing the δ15N of sinking particulate N captured within vs. below the euphotic zone indicates that during late spring regenerated N is low in δ15N compared to sinking N.