Distribution of Nitrogen Compounds in Marine Aerosol and Their Deposition Over the Pacific Ocean

Nutrient supply to the ocean surface layer is an important factor controlling the marine ecosystem. The major paths of supplies of nutrients have been considered as those from nutrient-rich deep waters and riverine input, which is mostly taken up near the estuary region, but the nutrients transported through the atmosphere recognize to be important for the open ocean, where the nutrients are limiting primary productivity. Because of rapid economic development surrounding the Pacific Ocean, anthropogenic NOx emissions increased by 2-3 times during the past decades. This rapid increase of NOx emission causes a large amount of N deposition mostly in the form of nitrate and ammonium over ocean surfaces, and strongly impacts their marine ecosystems. Especially, biological N₂ fixation, riverine input and atmospheric deposition contribute to support “new production” and affect CO₂ air-sea exchange.

The concentration of nitrogen compounds in marine aerosol has been measured on the island stations and onboard of research vessels in the Pacific Ocean over a few decades. The temporal and spatial atmospheric distribution of water-soluble particulate nitrogen compounds is summarized in this study. As the transport of anthropogenic nitrogen compounds from land, high concentration is revealed over the marginal seas in the western North Pacific. Most of nitrate exists in the coarse aerosol associated with sea-salt particle while ammonium exists in the fine particle and showing a good relationship with non-sea-salt sulfate. This different particle size affects to estimate the deposition flux of nitrogen compounds to the ocean surface. Over the high primary productive areas such as the equatorial Pacific and the Southern Ocean, ammonia is released into the atmosphere and transported to other area. By wet and dry deposition, ammonium is removed to the ocean surface and modified the distribution of nitrogen compounds in the surface waters.