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Publication:
Global patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification

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dc.contributor.authorGruber, Nicolas
dc.contributor.authorSarmiento, Jorge L.
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-02T17:50:14Z
dc.date.available2024-09-02T17:50:14Z
dc.date.issued1997
dc.description.abstractA new quasi-conservative tracer N*, defined as a linear combination of nitrate and phosphate, is proposed to investigate the distribution of nitrogen fixation and denitrification in the world oceans. Spatial patterns of N* are determined in the different ocean basins using data from the Geochemical Ocean Sections Study (GEOSECS) cruises (1972–1978) and from eight additional cruises in the Atlantic Ocean. N* is low (< −3 µmol kg−1) in the Arabian Sea and in the eastern tropical North and South Pacific. This distribution is consistent with direct observations of water column denitrification in these oxygen minimum zones. Low N* concentrations in the Bering Sea and near the continental shelves of the east and west coasts of North America also indicate a sink of N* due to benthic denitrification. High concentrations of N* (>2.0 µmol kg−1) indicative of prevailing nitrogen fixation are found in the thermocline of the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. This suggests that on a global scale these basins are acting as sources of fixed nitrogen, while the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific Ocean are acting as sinks. Nitrogen fixation is estimated in the North Atlantic Ocean (10°N–50°N) using the N* distribution along isopycnal surfaces and information about the water age. We calculate a fixation rate of 28 Tg N yr−1 which is about 3 times larger than the most recent global estimate. Our result is in line, however, with some recent suggestions that pelagic nitrogen fixation may be seriously underestimated. The implied flux of 0.072 mol N m−2 yr−1 is sufficient to meet all the nitrogen requirement of the estimated net community production in the mixed layer during summer at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site in the northwestern Sargasso Sea. Extrapolation of our North Atlantic estimate to the global ocean suggests that the present-day budget of nitrogen in the ocean may be in approximate balance.
dc.description.numberOfPages32
dc.identifier.doi10.48350/158806
dc.identifier.publisherDOI10.1029/97GB00077
dc.identifier.urihttps://boris-portal.unibe.ch/handle/20.500.12422/43409
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAmerican Geophysical Union
dc.relation.ispartofGlobal biogeochemical cycles
dc.relation.issn0886-6236
dc.relation.organizationDCD5A442BF29E17DE0405C82790C4DE2
dc.subject.ddc500 - Science::530 - Physics
dc.titleGlobal patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification
dc.typearticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage266
oaire.citation.issue2
oaire.citation.startPage235
oaire.citation.volume11
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unibe.contributor.rolecreator
unibe.contributor.rolecreator
unibe.date.licenseChanged2021-09-13 11:55:38
unibe.description.ispublishedpub
unibe.eprints.legacyId158806
unibe.journal.abbrevTitleGLOBAL BIOGEOCHEM CY
unibe.refereedTRUE
unibe.subtype.articlejournal

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