Articles | Volume 5, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-5-1641-2008
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-5-1641-2008
06 Dec 2008
 | 06 Dec 2008

North Pacific-wide spreading of isotopically heavy nitrogen during the last deglaciation: Evidence from the western Pacific

S. J. Kao, K. K. Liu, S. C. Hsu, Y. P. Chang, and M. H. Dai

Abstract. Sedimentary δ15 N records in two IMAGES cores (MD012404 and MD012403) retrieved from the Okinawa Trough (OT) in the western North Pacific reveal deglacial increases with two peaks occurring during the Bølling/Allerød and the Preboreal/early Holocene periods. These peaks are synchronous with previously reported δ15 N peaks in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific, although the amplitudes (from 3.8 to 5.8‰) are much smaller in the OT. Similar δ15 N values for the last glacial maximum and the late-Holocene observed by us at a site far from the present-day zones of water-column denitrification (WCD) indicate that the mean 15 N/14 N of nitrate in the upper ocean did not differ much between the two climate states. The accumulation rate of organic carbon and total sulfur content are used as indices of the local WCD potential. The results suggest that enhancement of global WCD rather than local denitrification should be responsible for the deglacial maxima of sedimentary δ15 N in the Okinawa Trough. Our data could provide additional constraints to better understand changes in nitrogen budget during the glacial to interglacial transition.

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