Nitrogen cycling in the southern North Sea: Consequences for total nitrogen transport

Weston, K, Jickels, TD, Fernard, L and Parker, ER (2004) Nitrogen cycling in the southern North Sea: Consequences for total nitrogen transport. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 59 (4). pp. 559-573. ISSN 1096-0015

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Abstract

Nitrate and ammonium uptake rates were measured during a series of cruises in the well-mixed region of the southern North Sea from February to September. Water column-integrated uptake rates ranged between 0.01 and 8.7 mmol N m -2 d-1 and 0.01 and 12.2 mmol N m-2 d -1 for nitrate and ammonium, respectively, with ammonium uptake dominating after the phytoplankton spring bloom in May. A moored buoy continuously measuring nitrate and chlorophyll a and seabed current meters were also deployed in the central southern North Sea in the region of the East Anglian plume - a permanent physical feature which transports nutrients towards continental Europe. This enabled the flux of water and hence of nutrients across the southern North Sea to be determined and an assessment of the contribution of freshwater nutrients to the flux to be made. A simple box model is developed to relate the phytoplankton uptake of nitrate and ammonium to the transport of nitrate, ammonium and particulate organic matter (POM) across the southern North Sea. This showed the importance of the plume region of the North Sea in the processing of nitrogen, with nitrate dominating total nitrogen transport prior to the spring bloom (10 340 x 103 kg N inflow to the plume in March) and transport of nitrogen as ammonium, nitrate and POM in approximately equivalent amounts during summer (2560, 2960 and 2151 x 10 3 kg N inflow to the plume, respectively, in July). The box model also demonstrates more generally the need to assess nitrogen transport as nitrate, ammonium and POM if an improved understanding of the impact of nutrient input in shelf seas is to be achieved.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climate, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Depositing User:	Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2011 13:25
Last Modified:	20 Mar 2023 12:34
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/32251
DOI:	10.1016/j.ecss.2003.11.002

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