Abstract
During the 3rd Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition cruise in the summer of 2008, nutrients (NO3, NO2, SiO23 , and PO34 ) and dissolved oxygen were measured in the western Arctic Ocean, to derive the vertical distribution of nutrient tracers and its relationship to water structure and biogeochemical processes. The nutrient data show that surface waters had the lowest NO3/PO34 (mean of 0.5) and SiO23 /PO3 (mean of 2.8) values in the water column, suggesting an excess of phosphate. Winter Bering Shelf water (wBSW) had high Si* (16.7 µmol/L; Si*=[Si(OH)4]-[NO3]) with negative N* (−11.7 µmol/L; N*=[PO34 ]-16[PO34 ]+3.5 µmol/L) in the water column, indicating nitrate deficiency. The warm Atlantic layer had positive N* (0.8 µmol/L) and negative Si* (−5.4 µmol/L) compared with Pacific source water. The vertical distribution of nutrients indicates that wBSW can be characterized by N* minimum and Si* maximum. In contrast, minima of Si* and SiO23 /PO34 below 200 m indicate the distribution of Atlantic warm water.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Broecker W S. 1974. “NO”, a conservative water-mass tracer. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 23(1): 100–107, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(74)90036-3
Brzezinski M A, Pride C J, Franck V M, et al. 2002. A switch from Si(OH)4 to NO3− depletion in the glacial Southern Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 29(12): 1564, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL014349
Chang B X, Devol A H. 2009. Seasonal and spatial patterns of sedimentary denitrification rates in the Chukchi Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 56(17): 1339–1350, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.10.024
Chen Min, Huang Yipu, Jin Mingming, et al. 2003. The sources of the upper and lower halocline water in the Canada Basin derived from isotopic tracers. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 46(6): 625–639, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984540
DeMaster D J. 1981. The supply and accumulation of silica in the marine environment. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 45(10): 1715–1732, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(81)90006-5
Deutsch C, Gruber N, Key R M, et al. 2001. Denitrification and N2 fixation in the Pacific Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 15(2): 483–506, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GB001291
Deutsch C, Weber T. 2012. Nutrient ratios as a tracer and driver of ocean biogeochemistry. Annual Review of Marine Science, 4: 113–141, doi: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120709-142821
Ekwurzel B, Schlosser P, Mortlock R A, et al. 2001. River runoff, sea ice meltwater, and Pacific water distribution and mean residence times in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 106(C5): 9075–9092, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC000024
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China, Standardization Administration of China. 2008. GB/T 12763-2007 Specifications for oceanographic survey (in Chinese). Beijing: China Standard Press
Giles K A, Laxon S W, Ridout A L, et al. 2012. Western Arctic Ocean freshwater storage increased by wind-driven spin-up of the Beaufort Gyre. Nature Geoscience, 5(3): 194–197, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1379
Grasshoff K, Kremling K, Ehrhardt M. 1999. Methods of Seawater Analysis. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH, 193–198
Grebmeier J M, Moore S E, Overland J E, et al. 2010. Biological response to recent pacific Arctic sea ice retreats. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 91(18): 161–162, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2010EO180001
Gruber N, Sarmiento J L. 1997. Global patterns of marine nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 11(2): 235–266, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/97GB00077
Hansell D A, Follows M J. 2008. Nitrogen in the Atlantic Ocean. In: Capone D G, Bronk D A, Mulholland M R, et al., eds. Nitrogen in the Marine Environment. 2nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier, 597–630
Jin Mingming, Wu Jingfeng, Chen Jianfang, et al. 2004. Nutrient maximum in the Canada Basin. Chinese Journal of Polar Research (in Chinese), 16(3): 240–252
Jones E P, Anderson L G. 1986. On the origin of the chemical properties of the Arctic Ocean halocline. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 91(C9): 10759–10767, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/JC091iC09p10759
Jones E P, Anderson L G, Swift J H. 1998. Distribution of Atlantic and Pacific waters in the upper Arctic Ocean: implications for circulation. Geophysical Research Letters, 25(6): 765–768, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL00464
Jones E P, Swift J H, Anderson L G, et al. 2003. Tracing Pacific water in the North Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 108(C4): 3116, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JC001141
Li Hongliang, Chen Jianfang, Gao Shengquan, et al. 2011. Nutrients variation of the Pacific inflow in the western Arctic Ocean. Haiyang Xuebao (in Chinese), 33(2): 85–95, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JC001141
Li Chengxuan, Wang Baodong, Yang Guipeng, et al. 2017. Occurrence and turnover of biogenic sulfur in the Bering Sea during summer. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122(11): 8567–8592, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013299
McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C, Macdonald R W, et al. 1996. Physical and geochemical properties across the Atlantic/Pacific water mass front in the southern Canadian Basin. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 101(C1): 1183–1197, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/95JC02634
McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C, Macdonald R W, et al. 2004. The joint roles of Pacific and Atlantic-origin waters in the Canada Basin, 1997–1998. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 51(1): 107–128, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2003.09.010
Qi Di, Chen Liqi, Chen Baoshan, et al. 2017. Increase in acidifying water in the western Arctic Ocean. Nature Climate Change, 7(3): 195–199, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3228
Redfield A C, Ketchum B H, Richards F A. 1963. The influence of organisms on the composition of the sea water. In: Hill M N, ed. The Sea. New York: Interscience, 26–77
Ríos A F, Fraga F, Pérez F F. 1989. Estimation of coefficients for the calculation of “NO”, “PO” and “CO”, starting from the elemental composition of natural phytoplankton. Scientia Marina, 53(4): 779–784
Rudels B, Anderson L G, Jones E P. 1996. Formation and evolution of the surface mixed layer and halocline of the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 101(C4): 8807–8821, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/96JC00143
Sarmiento J L, Gruber N, Brzezinski M A, et al. 2004. High-latitude controls of thermocline nutrients and low latitude biological productivity. Nature, 427(6969): 56–60, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02127
Schauer U, Muench R D, Rudels B, et al. 1997. Impact of eastern Arctic shelf waters on the Nansen Basin intermediate layers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 102(C2): 3371–3382, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/96JC03366
Shi Jiuxin, Cao Yong, Zhao Jinping, et al. 2005. Distribution of Pacific-origin water in the region of the Chukchi Plateau in the Arctic Ocean in the summer of 2003. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 24(6): 12–24
Shimada K, Carmack E C, Hatakeyama K, et al. 2001. Varieties of shallow temperature maximum waters in the western Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 28(18): 3441–3444, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL013168
Steele M, Morison J, Ermold W, et al. 2004. Circulation of summer Pacific halocline water in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 109(C2): C02027, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JC002009
Wilson C, Wallace D W R. 1990. Using the nutrient ratio NO/PO as a tracer of continental shelf waters in the central Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 95(C12): 22193–22208, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/JC095iC12p22193
Yamamoto-Kawai M, McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C, et al. 2008. Freshwater budget of the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, from salinity, δ18O, and nutrients. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 113(C1): C01007, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JC003858
Zhao Jinping, Shi Jiuxin, Gao Guoping, et al. 2006. Water mass of the northward throughflow in the Bering Strait in the summer of 2003. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 25(2): 25–32
Zhuang Yanpei, Jin Haiyan, Chen Jianfang, et al. 2018. Nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics driven by the Beaufort Gyre in the western Arctic Ocean during the period 2008–2014. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 137: 30–37, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2018.05.002
Zhuang Yanpei, Li Hongliang, Jin Haiyan, et al. 2019. Observation of nitrate deficit along transects across the Canada Basin after major sea-ice loss. Polar Science, 21: 224–227, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2019.03.001
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Foundation item
The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41941013, 41776205, 41976226 and 41806228; the Scientific Research Funds of Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, under contract No. QNYC2003; the Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation & Assessment Programs under contract Nos 0304 and 0402.
Acknowledegements
We thank the crew members of the Xuelong icebreaker during Chinese Arctic Expeditions. CTD data were provided by Jinping Zhao from the Ocean University of China and issued through a polar scientific data sharing platform maintained by the Chinese National Arctic and Antarctic Data Center (CN-AADC: (http://www.chinare.org.cn). Thanks are also given to Zhengbing Han from the Second Institute of Oceanography for help with fieldwork.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhuang, Y., Li, H., Jin, H. et al. Vertical distribution of nutrient tracers in the western Arctic Ocean and its relationship to water structure and biogeochemical processes. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 39, 109–114 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-020-1651-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-020-1651-8