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Title: N2O production and consumption from stable isotopic and concentration data in the Peruvian coastal upwelling system: N2O Production and Consumption off Peru

Journal Article · · Global Biogeochemical Cycles
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gb005567· OSTI ID:1532974

The ocean is an important source of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere, yet the factors controlling N2O production and consumption in oceanic environments are still not understood nor constrained. We measured N2O concentrations and isotopomer ratios, as well as O2, nutrient and biogenic N2 concentrations, and the isotopic compositions of nitrate and nitrite at several coastal stations during two cruises off the Peru coast (~5–16°S, 75–81°W) in December 2012 and January 2013. N2O concentrations varied from below equilibrium values in the oxygen deficient zone (ODZ) to up to 190nmol L-1 in surface waters. We used a 3-D-reaction-advection-diffusion model to evaluate the rates and modes of N2O production in oxic waters and rates of N2O consumption versus production by denitrification in the ODZ. Intramolecular site preference in N2O isotopomer was relatively low in surface waters (generally -3 to 14‰) and together with modeling results, confirmed the dominance of nitrifier-denitrification or incomplete denitrifier-denitrification, corresponding to an efflux of up to 0.6 Tg N yr-1 off the Peru coast. Other evidence, e.g., the absence of a relationship between ΔN2O and apparent O2 utilization and significant relationships between nitrate, a substrate during denitrification, and N2O isotopes, suggest that N2O production by incomplete denitrification or nitrifier-denitrification decoupled from aerobic organic matter remineralization are likely pathways for extreme N2O accumulation in newly upwelled surface waters. We observed imbalances between N2O production and consumption in the ODZ, with the modeled proportion of N2O consumption relative to production generally increasing with biogenic N2. However, N2O production appeared to occur even where there was high N loss at the shallowest stations.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0016329
OSTI ID:
1532974
Journal Information:
Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 31, Issue 4; ISSN 0886-6236
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 41 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

Bacterial degradation activity in the eastern tropical South Pacific oxygen minimum zone journal January 2020
Marine N₂O Emissions From Nitrification and Denitrification Constrained by Modern Observations and Projected in Multimillennial Global Warming Simulations text January 2018
Remote Western Arctic Nutrients Fuel Remineralization in Deep Baffin Bay journal June 2019
An intercomparison of oceanic methane and nitrous oxide measurements journal January 2018
Investigating the effect of El Niño on nitrous oxide distribution in the eastern tropical South Pacific journal January 2019
Global reconstruction of surface oceanic N2O disequilibrium and its associated flux dataset January 2020
Global Nitrous Oxide Production Determined by Oxygen Sensitivity of Nitrification and Denitrification journal December 2018
Processes and Microorganisms Involved in the Marine Nitrogen Cycle: Knowledge and Gaps journal November 2019
Distribution of Concentration and Stable Isotopic Composition of N 2 O in the Shelf and Slope of the Northern South China Sea: Implications for Production and Emission journal August 2019

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