Abstract
ESTIMATES of atmospheric nitrogen budgets, based largely on nitrate measurements, suggest that over half of the reactive nitrogen is derived from anthropogenic sources1. As there are so few data for the oceans it is difficult to assess the impact of continental sources on the marine atmosphere. Here we present data from several years of continuous sampling in a Pacific island network. The lowest concentrations, 0.11μgm−3 (ref. 2), were consistently obtained at three South Pacific stations, where the effect of continental sources is minimal3. By contrast, in the North Pacific, nitrate concentration was about three times greater and was co-seasonal with Asian dust transport, suggesting that much of the nitrate over the North Pacific is derived from continental sources3–5. If we assume that the South Pacific nitrate values are representative of oceanic 'background' sources and that these background values are applicable to the North Pacific, then we conclude that continental sources, which are predominantly anthropogenic1, are responsible for 40–70% of the atmospheric nitrate over this region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Logan, L. A. J. geophys. Res. 88, 10785–10807 (1983).
Savoie, D. L., Prospero, J. M., Merrill, J. T. & Uematsu, M. J. atmos. Chem. (in the press).
Prospero, J. M., Uematsu, M. & Savoie, D. L. in Chemical Oceanography Vol. 10 (eds Riley, J. P. & Chester, R.) (Academic, London, in the press).
Uematsu, M. et al. J. geophys. Res. 88, 5343–5352 (1983).
Uematsu, M., Duce, R. A. & Prospero, J. M. J. atmos. Chem. 3, 123–138 (1985).
Prospero, J. M., Savoie, D., Nees, R. T., Duce, R. A. & Merrill, J. J. geophys. Res. 90, 10586–10596 (1985).
Savoie, D. L. thesis, Univ. of Miami (1984).
Savoie, D. L., Prospero, J. M. & Saltzman, E. S. J. geophys. Res. 94, 5069–5080 (1989).
Appel, B. R., Wall, S. M., Tokiwa, Y. & Haik, M. Atmos. Environ. 14, 549–554 (1980).
Appel, B. R., Tokiwa, Y. & Haik, M. Atmos. Environ. 15, 549–554 (1981).
Forrest, J., Tanner, R. L., Spandau, D., D'Ottavio, T. & Newman, L. Atmos. Environ. 14, 137–144 (1980).
Okita, T., Morimoto, S., Izawa, M. & Konno, S. Atmos. Environ. 10, 1085–1089 (1976).
Savoie, D. L. & Prospero, J. M. Geophys. Res. Lett. 9, 1207–1210 (1982).
Pszenny, A. A. P. thesis, Univ. of Rhode Island (1987).
Huebert, B. J. Geophys. Res. Lett. 7, 325–328 (1980).
Savoie, D. L., Prospero, J. M. & Saltzman, E. S. in Chemical Oceanography Vol. 10 (eds Riley, J. P. & Chester, R.) (Academic, London, in the press).
Duce, R. A., Unni, C. K., Ray, B. J., Prospero, J. M. & Merrill, J. T. Science 209, 1522–1524 (1980).
Merrill, J. T., Uematsu, M. & Bleck, R. J. geophys. Res. (in the press).
Arimoto, R., Duce, R. A., Ray, B. J., Hewitt, A. D. & Williams, J. J. geophys. Res. 92, 8465–8479 (1987).
Tuncel, G., Aras, N. K. & Zoller, W. H. J. geophys. Res. (in the press).
Merrill, J. T. in Chemical Oceanography. Vol. 10 (eds Riley, J. P. & Chester, R.) (Academic Press, London, in the press).
Hameed, S. & Dignon, J. Atmos. Environ. 22, 441–449 (1988).
Galasyn, J. F., Tschudy, K. L. & Huebert, B. J. J. geophys. Res. 92, 3105–3115 (1987).
Levy, H. II & Moxim, W. J. Tellus (in the press).
Savoie, D. L., Prospero, J. M. & Nees, R. T. J. geophys. Res. 92, 933–942 (1987).
Savoie, D. L. & Prospero, J. M. Nature 339, 685–687 (1989).
Halter, B. C. in Geophysical Monitoring for Climatic Change, 12, Summary Report (eds Harris, J. M. & Nickerson, E. J.) 88–92 (Air Resources Laboratory, NOAA, Boulder, 1984).
Levy, H. II, Mahlman, J. D. & Moxim, W. J. Geophys. Res. Lett. 7, 441–444 (1980).
Oltmans, S. J. J. geophys. Res. 86, 1174–1180 (1981).
Levy, H. II, Mahlman, J. D., Moxim, W. J. & Liu, S. C. J. geophys. Res. 90, 3753–3772 (1985).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prospero, J., Savoie, D. Effect of continental sources on nitrate concentrations over the Pacific Ocean. Nature 339, 687–689 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339687a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339687a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Atmospheric deposition and river runoff stimulate the utilization of dissolved organic phosphorus in coastal seas
Nature Communications (2024)
-
Assessing variability of water quality in a groundwater-fed perennial lake of Kashmir Himalayas using linear geostatistics
Journal of Earth System Science (2011)
-
Atmospheric inorganic nitrogen in marine aerosol and precipitation and its deposition to the North and South Pacific Oceans
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry (2011)
-
Characterization of nutrients in the atmospheric wet and dry deposition observed at the two monitoring sites over Yellow Sea and East China Sea
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry (2007)
-
Ice core dust particulate by XPS-SEM/EDAX
Chinese Science Bulletin (1999)