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Isotopic Tracers of the Marine Nitrogen Cycle: Present and Past

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Marine Organic Matter: Biomarkers, Isotopes and DNA

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC2,volume 2N))

Abstract

The oceanic nitrogen cycle consists of a web of microbially mediated transformations driven in part by the large range in possible nitrogen oxidation states. Many of these transformations have corresponding isotope fractionation effects, usually leaving the product depleted in 15N (δ15N). Due to the complexity of the nitrogen cycle, observed patterns of isotopic ratio could be expected to defy explanation. However in reality, a few geographically separated processes dominate the larger spatial and temporal scales in the open ocean. These are (1) NO3 - assimilation by phytoplankton, (2) N2 fixation, and (3) denitrification. The latter two have particular importance as the principal source and sink, respectively, of combined nitrogen to the ocean. As such, they together control the oceanic inventory for combined nitrogen which in turn is a factor controlling marine plant production and organic matter flux from the surface to the ocean's interior. Taking into account the effective isotopic fractionation effects for N2 fixation and denitrification, the modern average δ15N for the ocean is a potentially important constraint on the modern marine nitrogen budget. Past variation in these processes can be reconstructed on time scales from decades to millions of years from sediment cores with good preservation of organic matter. In particular, temporally well resolved δ15N records show large variations in the three major water column denitrification regions in response to climate variations. Collectively, these variations in denitrification likely produced significant changes in the oceanic combined nitrogen inventory which appears to be confirmed by global-scale changes in δ15N across the last deglaciation.

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Abbreviations

‰:

per mil

δ:

“delta” convention for expressing natural variation in isotopic ratio

δ15NO3 - :

δ15N of NO3 -

ε:

isotope fractionation factor

bp:

before present

ACE:

Antarctic climate event

DIN:

dissolved inorganic nitrogen

D-O:

Dansgaard--Oeschger event

ETNP:

Eastern Tropical North Pacific

ETSP:

Eastern Tropical South Pacific

f:

fraction of remaining substrate

HNLC:

high nutrient, low chlorophyll

kyr:

kilo-year (103)

ka:

kilo-annum (103)

MIS:

marine isotope stage

Myr:

mega-year (106)

N′ or N*:

NO3 - concentration anomaly

OM:

organic matter

OMZ:

oxygen minimum zone

POM:

particulate organic matter

SOM:

sedimentary organic matter

Tg:

Teragram (1012)

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Peng Feng and Rehka Singh for technical assistance in generating much of the data presented, Matt Higginson for thoughtful discussions and data analysis, Joe Montoya, Dave Murray, and Tim Herbert for on-going collaborations. The US NSF has provided the bulk of the support for the author's research group.

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  1. School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts, 706 Rodney French Blvd, 02744-1221, New Bedford, MA, USA

    Mark A. Altabet

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John K. Volkman

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Altabet, M.A. Isotopic Tracers of the Marine Nitrogen Cycle: Present and Past. In: Volkman, J.K. (eds) Marine Organic Matter: Biomarkers, Isotopes and DNA. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 2N. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2_008

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