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Industrial activities have increased the supply of iron to the ocean, but the magnitude of anthropogenic input and its ecological consequences are not well-constrained by observations. Across four expeditions to the North Pacific transition zone, we document a repeated supply of isotopically light iron from an atmospheric source in spring, reflecting an estimated 39 ± 9 % anthropogenic contribution to the surface ocean iron budget. Expression of iron-stress genes in metatranscriptomes, and evidence for colimitation of ecosystem productivity by iron and nitrogen, indicates that enhanced iron supply should spur spring phytoplankton blooms, accelerating the seasonal drawdown of nitrate delivered by winter mixing. This effect is consistent with regional trends in satellite ocean color, which show a shorter, more intense spring bloom period, followed by an earlier arrival of oligotrophic conditions in summer. Continued iron emissions may contribute to poleward shifts in transitional marine ecosystems, compounding the anticipated impacts from ocean warming and stratification. 

Abstract The chemistry of copper (Cu) in seawater is well known to be dominated by complexation with organic ligands. The prevailing paradigm is that Cu forms strong but labile complexes. Recently, a novel procedure revealed that only a small fraction of dissolved Cu exists as labile complexes. The majority is present as a fraction that is relatively inert on timescales of weeks or more and probably does not participate in coordination exchange reactions, including biologically mediated processes. Samples collected from the 2018 GEOTRACES GP15 cruise show that throughout the interior of the Pacific Ocean, this inert fraction comprises about 90% of the dissolved Cu. Labile Cu accumulates in surface waters, probably arising from photochemical decomposition of the inert fraction. There is also a modest accumulation of labile Cu near deep sea sediments and along the Alaskan shelf and slope. The results have important implications for Cu transport and biological availability. Inert Cu may influence Cu transport throughout the water column and contribute to the linear increase in Cu with depth, a distribution which is hard to explain for a biologically active trace metal. The origins of inert Cu are unknown. It may be produced slowly within the water column on the timescale of meridional overturning circulation. In the Columbia River, between 92% and 98% of the dissolved Cu is in the inert fraction, suggesting a possible terrestrial source of inert Cu to the ocean. 

Abstract Oxygen‐deficient zones (ODZs) play an important role in the distribution and cycling of trace metals in the ocean, as important sources of metals including Fe and Mn, and also as possible sinks of chalcophile elements such as Cd. The Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) ODZ is one of the three largest ODZs worldwide. Here, we present results from two sectional surveys through the ETNP ODZ conducted in 2018, providing high‐resolution concentrations of several metals, along with complimentary measurements of nutrients and iodine speciation. We show that samples obtained from the ship's regular rosette are clean for Cd, Mn, Ni, and light rare earth elements, while uncontaminated Fe, Zn, Cu, and Pb samples cannot be obtained without a special trace‐metal clean sampling system. Our results did not show evidence of Cd sulfide precipitation, even within the most oxygen‐depleted water mass. High Mn and Ce concentrations and high Ce anomalies were observed in low‐oxygen seawater. These maxima were most pronounced in the upper water column below the oxycline, coincident with the secondary nitrite maxima and the lowest oxygen concentrations, in what is generally considered the most microbially active part of the water column. High Mn and Ce features were also coincident with maxima in excess iodine, a tracer of shelf sediment sources. Mn and Ce maxima were most prominent within the 13°C water mass, spanning a density horizon that enhances isopycnal transport from the shelf sediments, resulting in transport of Mn and Ce at least 2500 km offshore. 

Abstract Despite the Pacific being the location of the earliest seawater Cd studies, the processes which control Cd distributions in this region remain incompletely understood, largely due to the sparsity of data. Here, we present dissolved Cd and δ¹¹⁴Cd data from the US GEOTRACES GP15 meridional transect along 152°W from the Alaskan margin to the equatorial Pacific. Our examination of this region's surface ocean Cd isotope systematics is consistent with previous observations, showing a stark disparity between northern Cd‐rich high‐nutrient low‐chlorophyll waters and Cd‐depleted waters of the subtropical and equatorial Pacific. Away from the margin, an open system model ably describes data in Cd‐depleted surface waters, but atmospheric inputs of isotopically light Cd likely play an important role in setting surface Cd isotope ratios (δ¹¹⁴Cd) at the lowest Cd concentrations. Below the surface, Southern Ocean processes and water mass mixing are the dominant control on Pacific Cd and δ¹¹⁴Cd distributions. Cd‐depleted Antarctic Intermediate Water has a far‐reaching effect on North Pacific intermediate waters as far as 47°N, contrasting with northern‐sourced Cd signatures in North Pacific Intermediate Water. Finally, we show that the previously identified negative Cd* signal at depth in the North Pacific is associated with the PO₄maximum and is thus a consequence of an integrated regeneration signal of Cd and PO₄at a slightly lower Cd:P ratio than the deep ocean ratio (0.35 mmol mol⁻¹), rather than being related to in situ removal processes in low‐oxygen waters.