Impact of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on phytoplankton productivity in the South China Sea

The impacts of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition on the marine N cycle are only now being revealed, but the magnitudes of those impacts are largely unknown in time and space. The South China Sea (SCS) is particularly subject to high anthropogenic N deposition, because the adjacent countries are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2014-05, Vol.41 (9), p.3156-3162
Main Authors: Kim, Tae-Wook, Lee, Kitack, Duce, Robert, Liss, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air masses
Algae
Anthropogenic factors
Atmospheric chemistry
Atmospheric nitrogen deposition
Atmospherics
China
Chlorophyll-a
Coasts
Concentration weighted trajectories
Deposition
Economics
Indonesia
Nitrates
Nitrogen
Ocean productivity
Oceans
Phytoplankton
South China Sea
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Summary:The impacts of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition on the marine N cycle are only now being revealed, but the magnitudes of those impacts are largely unknown in time and space. The South China Sea (SCS) is particularly subject to high anthropogenic N deposition, because the adjacent countries are highly populated and have rapidly growing economies. Analysis of data sets for atmospheric N deposition, satellite chlorophyll‐a (Chl‐a), and air mass back trajectories reveals that the transport of N originating from the populated east coasts of China and Indonesia, and its deposition to the ocean, has been responsible for the enhancements of Chl‐a in the SCS. We found that atmospheric N deposition contributed approximately 20% of the annual biological new production in the SCS. The airborne contribution of N to new production in the SCS is expected to grow considerably in the coming decades. Key Points N deposition contributed ~20% of the new production in the South China Sea Air masses from highly populated regions increased the Chl‐a concentration
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1002/2014GL059665