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N-cycling and balancing of the N-deficit generated in the oxygen minimum zone over the Namibian shelf-An isotope-based approach

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Citation

Nagel, B., Emeis, K.-C., Flohr, A., Rixen, T., Schlarbaum, T., Mohrholz, V., et al. (2013). N-cycling and balancing of the N-deficit generated in the oxygen minimum zone over the Namibian shelf-An isotope-based approach. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 118(1), 361-371. doi:10.1002/jgrg.20040.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0019-B293-7
Abstract
The northern Benguela upwelling system is a nutrient-replete region with high plankton biomass production and a seasonally changing oxygen minimum zone. Nitrate: phosphate ratios in fresh upwelling water are low due to denitrification in the near-seafloor oxygen minimum zone and phosphate efflux from sediments. This makes the region a candidate for substantial dinitrogen fixation, for which evidence is scarce. Nutrient and oxygen data, N isotope data of nitrate, nitrogen isotope ratios of particulate matter, particulate organic carbon content, and suspended matter concentrations on a transect across the shelf and upper slope at 23 degrees S illustrate N-cycling processes and are the basis for estimating the contribution of N-sources and N-sinks to the reactive nitrogen pool. It appears that N-removal due to denitrification exceeds N gain by N-2 fixation and physical mixing processes by a factor of >6, although inorganic N: P ratios again increase as surface water is advected offshore. Nitrate and ammonium regeneration, nutrient assimilation with N:P < 16, shelf break mixing, atmospheric input, and N-2 fixation all contribute to the restoration of inorganic N: P ratios back to Redfield conditions, but in seasonally changing proportions. The Benguela upwelling system thus is a nutrient source for the oceanic-mixed layer where N-sources and N-sinks are not in balance and Redfield conditions can only re-adjust by advection and mixing processes integrated over time.