Publication Date:
2022-10-26
Description:
© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Selden, C. R., Mulholland, M. R., Bernhardt, P. W., Widner, B., Macias-Tapia, A., Ji, Q., & Jayakumar, A. Dinitrogen fixation across physico-chemical gradients of the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen deficient zone. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 33, (2019): 1187-1202, doi:10.1029/2019GB006242.
Description:
The Eastern Tropical North Pacific Ocean hosts one of the world's largest oceanic oxygen deficient zones (ODZs). Hot spots for reactive nitrogen (Nr) removal processes, ODZs generate conditions proposed to promote Nr inputs via dinitrogen (N2) fixation. In this study, we quantified N2 fixation rates by 15N tracer bioassay across oxygen, nutrient, and light gradients within and adjacent to the ODZ. Within subeuphotic oxygen‐deplete waters, N2 fixation was largely undetectable; however, addition of dissolved organic carbon stimulated N2 fixation in suboxic (〈20 μmol/kg O2) waters, suggesting that diazotroph communities are likely energy limited or carbon limited and able to fix N2 despite high ambient concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Elevated rates (〉9 nmol N·L−1·day−1) were also observed in suboxic waters near volcanic islands where N2 fixation was quantifiable to 3,000 m. Within the overlying euphotic waters, N2 fixation rates were highest near the continent, exceeding 500 μmol N·m−2·day−1 at one third of inshore stations. These findings support the expansion of the known range of diazotrophs to deep, cold, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen‐replete waters. Additionally, this work bolsters calls for the reconsideration of ocean margins as important sources of Nr. Despite high rates at some inshore stations, regional N2 fixation appears insufficient to compensate for Nr loss locally as observed previously in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific ODZ.
Description:
We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the captain and crew of the NOAA vessel Ronald H. Brown and the scientists who participated in the collection and analysis of the data presented here, particularly Shannon Cofield, Wei Yan, Nicole Travis, and Matt Forbes. We thank the Monterey Bay Aquatic Research Institute for the use of their pump profiling system and Margeurite Blum for her expertise in its use. Finally, we thank Bess Ward for the use of her facilities at Princeton University. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF‐OCE) Grant OCE‐1356056 to M. R. M. and A. J. Data will be made available at the website (https://www.bco‐dmo.org/project/472492). The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Keywords:
Nitrogen fixation
;
Oxygen deficient zone
;
Eastern tropical pacific
;
Diazotroph
;
Oxygen minimum zone
;
Aphotic
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
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