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

• 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
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1002/2014GL059665

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