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Denitrification exceeds anammox as a nitrogen loss pathway in the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Denitrification exceeds anammox as a nitrogen loss pathway in the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone
 
Creator Bulow, S.E.
Rich, J.J.
Naik, H.
Pratihary, A.K.
Ward, B.B.
 
Subject biogeochemical cycle
oxygen minimum layer
nitrogen cycle
denitrification
 
Description The oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) of the world oceans are sites of enhanced anaerobic nitrogen transformations, such that the largest OMZ, the Arabian Sea, is responsible for 30-50% of the oceanic water column fixed N loss. Measurements of excess N sub(2) and nitrate deficits have been interpreted to indicate a large net loss of fixed nitrogen through N2 production in waters with very low oxygen concentrations. Rates of N sub(2) production both by denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) were investigated by measuring sup(15)N-N sub(2) production from sup(15)NH sub(4) sup(+), sup(15)NO sub(2) sup(-), and sup(46)N sub(2)O in incubations at 3-4 depths at each of the three stations in the central region of the Arabian Sea OMZ. In addition to conventional measurements of anammox and denitrification rates from incubations in 12ml exetainers purged with He, it is also investigated that the effect of ammonium and organic carbon additions on N sub(2) production rate. Denitrification was detected at every depth at every station; the maximum rate (25.3 plus or minus 9.1 n mol l sup(-1) d sup(-1) from the sup(15)NO sub(2) tracer and 21.2 plus or minus 5.6 n moll sup(-1) d sup(-1) from the sup(46) N sub(2)O tracer) occurred at the depth of the secondary nitrite maximum in the core of the OMZ. The sup(46)N sub(2)O tracer was the most direct method to measure the denitrification rate. Rates of denitrification correlated strongly with water column nitrite concentration. Addition of organic carbon or ammonium did not consistently stimulate denitrification rates. Distribution of anammox was patchy; low rates of anammox production of sup(29)N sub(2) in sup(15)NH sub(-4) sup(+) incubations were detected at only four of eleven depths. The highest rate of anammox production (4.23 plus or minus 0.35 nmoll sup(-1) d sup(-1)) occurred near the upper boundary of the OMZ at one station. Overall, denitrification dominated N sub(2) production at this time in the Arabian Sea OMZ
 
Date 2010-04-04T14:17:20Z
2010-04-04T14:17:20Z
2010
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Deep-Sea Research I, vol.57(3); 384-393
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/3568
 
Language en
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Elsevier. Copyright [2010] Elsevier
 
Publisher Elsevier