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Enhanced vertical turbulent nitrate flux in the Kuroshio across the Izu Ridge

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Abstract

The first direct measurements of vertical turbulent nitrate flux, FluxNO3, were conducted in the Kuroshio across the Izu Ridge and revealed large FluxNO3 near the sill crest at the 1% light depth. This large FluxNO3 possibly enhances downstream phytoplankton growth. Extremely large FluxNO3 was also observed at 26.0–26.6 σθ between the core of the Kuroshio nutrient stream and the North Pacific Intermediate Water. We hypothesize that strong vertical mixing in the Izu Ridge draws sufficient nitrate upward from the North Pacific Intermediate Water to the nutrient stream, which eventually impacts the downstream biogeochemistry in the western North Pacific.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the officers, crews, onboard scientists, technical staffs, and graduate students of the R/V Shinsei-maru KS-16-10 cruise. We also thank A. Murayama for her support in the nutrient analysis. Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (MEXT KAKENHI JP15H05818 and JP15H05820).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 3-27-5 Shinhama-cho, Shiogama, Miyagi, 985-0001, Japan

    T. Tanaka & D. Hasegawa

  2. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan

    I. Yasuda, H. Tsuji & S. Fujio

  3. Hakodate Local Meteorological Office, Japan Meteorological Agency, 3-4-4, Mihara, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 041-0806, Japan

    Y. Goto

  4. Institute of Low Temperature Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-19, Nishi-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0819, Japan

    J. Nishioka

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  1. T. Tanaka
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Correspondence to T. Tanaka.

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Tanaka, T., Hasegawa, D., Yasuda, I. et al. Enhanced vertical turbulent nitrate flux in the Kuroshio across the Izu Ridge. J Oceanogr 75, 195–203 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-018-0500-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-018-0500-2

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