Nitrate assimilation and regeneration in the Barents Sea: insights from nitrate isotopes

Tuerena, Robyn E.; Hopkins, Joanne; Ganeshram, Raja S.; Norman, Louisa; de la Vega, Camille; Jeffreys, Rachel; Mahaffey, Claire

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-637-2021

Articles | Volume 18, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-637-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-637-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 2

Research article

|

28 Jan 2021

Research article |

| 28 Jan 2021

Nitrate assimilation and regeneration in the Barents Sea: insights from nitrate isotopes

Robyn E. Tuerena, Joanne Hopkins, Raja S. Ganeshram, Louisa Norman, Camille de la Vega, Rachel Jeffreys, and Claire Mahaffey

Data sets

Nitrate isotope measurements from CTD niskin depth profiles from Changing Arctic Ocean cruise JR16006 in the Barents Sea during summer 2017 Robyn E. Tuerena and Raja S. Ganeshram https://doi.org/10.5285/b2e5007e-f3a8-429c-e053-6c86abc0ba4f

Dissolved nutrient samples collected in the Barents Sea as part of the Changing Arctic Ocean programme for the Arctic PRIZE and ARISE projects during RRS James Clark Ross cruise JR16006. T. Brand, L. Norman, S. F. Henley, C. Mahaffey, and R. Tuerena, and K. C. Crocket https://doi.org/10.5285/b4c1537e-c729-6463-e053-6c86abc0c7de

δ15N-PN, δ13C-PC, particulate organic nitrogen and particulate organic carbon measurements from CTD niskin-collected water column profiles obtained in the Barents Sea during NERC CAO cruise JR16006, L. Norman, C. de la Vega, J. Ball, and C. Mahaffey https://doi.org/10.5285/b46574f7-bffb-170b-e053-6c86abc0be46

Short summary

The Barents Sea is a rapidly changing shallow sea within the Arctic. Here, nitrate, an essential nutrient, is fully consumed by algae in surface waters during summer months. Nitrate is efficiently regenerated in the Barents Sea, and there is no evidence for nitrogen loss from the sediments by denitrification, which is prevalent on other Arctic shelves. This suggests that nitrogen availability in the Barents Sea is largely determined by the supply of nutrients in water masses from the Atlantic.