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Sedimentary inorganic nitrogen and its isotope ratio in the western subarctic Pacific over the last 145 kyr

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Abstract

We have measured inorganic nitrogen (IN) content and the isotope ratio of IN (δ15NIN) in a sediment core covering the last 145 kyr in the western subarctic Pacific (WSAP). IN content was generally high during glacial periods and shows positive correlations with both eolian dust content and the ratio of organic carbon (C) to organic nitrogen (ON) (C/ON) found in our previous studies. This means that IN was transported from continental areas to the WSAP together with eolian dust and that the IN was not contaminated by volcanic materials, because the eolian dust content was reconstructed using metal components to remove contaminating volcanic materials. Therefore, IN content in the WSAP sediments, the clay fraction of which is not greatly affected by drift deposits seen at the other sites in this region, may potentially be an effective proxy for eolian dust, without the need to consider contamination by volcanic materials. δ15NIN was generally low during glacial periods and shows negative correlations with IN, eolian dust, and C/ON. The possible causes of the observed variations in δ15NIN are as follows: (1) authigenic fixation of NH4 + in water-column and pore water of sea-floor sediments to clay minerals; (2) contamination of measured IN by highly resistant organic matter; or (3) variations in the continental source region of the eolian dust supplied to the WSAP and climatically induced changes in δ15N of soil organic matter there. The last mechanism shows the potential for δ15NIN to be used as a proxy for climate change on land, and is consistent with other published explanations of the spatial distribution of δ15NIN in modern sea-floor sediments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Masahito Shigemitsu & Yutaka W. Watanabe

  2. School of Marine Science and Technology, Tokai University, Orido, Shizuoka, 424-8610, Japan

    Hisashi Narita

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  1. Masahito Shigemitsu
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  2. Yutaka W. Watanabe
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  3. Hisashi Narita
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Correspondence to Masahito Shigemitsu.

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Shigemitsu, M., Watanabe, Y.W. & Narita, H. Sedimentary inorganic nitrogen and its isotope ratio in the western subarctic Pacific over the last 145 kyr. J Oceanogr 65, 541–548 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-009-0046-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-009-0046-4

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