Dissolved inorganic nitrogen and particulate organic nitrogen budget in the Yucatán shelf: driving mechanisms  through a physical–biogeochemical coupled model

Estrada-Allis, Sheila N.; Sheinbaum Pardo, Julio; Azevedo Correia de Souza, Joao M.; Enríquez Ortiz, Cecilia Elizabeth; Mariño Tapia, Ismael; Herrera-Silveira, Jorge A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1087-2020

Articles | Volume 17, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1087-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1087-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 4

Research article

|

28 Feb 2020

Research article |

| 28 Feb 2020

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen and particulate organic nitrogen budget in the Yucatán shelf: driving mechanisms through a physical–biogeochemical coupled model

Sheila N. Estrada-Allis, Julio Sheinbaum Pardo, Joao M. Azevedo Correia de Souza, Cecilia Elizabeth Enríquez Ortiz, Ismael Mariño Tapia, and Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira

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Final revised paper (published on 28 Feb 2020)
Preprint (discussion started on 26 Apr 2019)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Review of Estrada-Ellis et al. “Budget of the total nitrogen in the Yucatan Shelf: driving mechanisms through a physical-biogeochemical coupled model”', Anonymous Referee #1, 03 Jun 2019
- AC1: 'Response to reviewer 1', SHEILA ESTRADA-ALLIS, 29 Jun 2019
RC2: 'Review of "Budget of the total nitrogen in the Yucatan Shelf: driving mechanisms through a physical-biogeochemical coupled model"', Javier Zavala-Garay, 04 Jun 2019
- AC2: 'Response to reviewer 2', SHEILA ESTRADA-ALLIS, 29 Jun 2019

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

ED: Reconsider after major revisions (02 Jul 2019) by Katja Fennel

AR by SHEILA ESTRADA-ALLIS on behalf of the Authors (30 Sep 2019) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (01 Oct 2019) by Katja Fennel

RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (20 Oct 2019)

RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (28 Oct 2019)

Suggestions for revision or reasons for rejection

In the revision of the earlier version of this manuscript I expressed my concerns about the validation of the physical component of the model and the need to justify or acknowledge the limitations of the model configuration used. Both concerns have been addressed in this second revision.

The model validation of the revised manuscript includes comparison with EKE and variance maps from aviso, satellite SST, mixed layer depth from ARGO, satellite-derived surface Chl, Chl from profiling floats, surface currents form the GlobCurrent product, and comparison with some hydrographic profiles and sections of mean velocity from moorings along the eastern side of the YS. In addition, it is now acknowledged that the model vertical resolution at the shelf break (~20 m) cannot resolve the details of the bottom boundary layer. However I do not believe this to be a limiting factor for this exploratory study which aims to provide a first order approximation to the TN budget. The bulk properties of the bottom Ekman transport can be inferred just as surface wind stress is used to provide a bulk estimate of the Ekman transport near the surface.

As mentioned before, the manuscript addresses a relevant scientific question within the scope of BG and the modeling results suggest a very interesting case for the relevance of likely physical processes controlling or modulating the import and export of N in and out of the YS. While the new validation provides more confidence on the model results, I still think the manuscript needs to be highly revised for grammatical and redaction errors. I noticed that the quality of the manuscript in terms of typos, clarity of the statements, grammar, etc. degrades towards the end. Please revise it carefully.

Referee Report: PDF

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ED: Reconsider after major revisions (28 Oct 2019) by Katja Fennel

AR by SHEILA ESTRADA-ALLIS on behalf of the Authors (08 Dec 2019) Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (03 Jan 2020) by Katja Fennel

RR by John Lehrter (15 Jan 2020)

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (20 Jan 2020) by Katja Fennel

AR by SHEILA ESTRADA-ALLIS on behalf of the Authors (25 Jan 2020) Author's response Manuscript

Short summary

Continental shelves are the most productive areas in the ocean and can have an important impact on the nutrient cycle as well as the climate system. The one in Yucatán is the largest shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. However, its nutrient budget remains unidentifiable. Here we propose not only a general nutrient budget for the Yucatán Shelf but also the physical processes responsible for its pathway modulation through a physical–biogeochemical coupled model of the whole Gulf of Mexico.