Hydrodynamic and Environmental Controls on the Nitrogen Isotope Effect of Benthic N2 Production

Isotopic signatures of nitrogen (N) pools, together with knowledge on fractionation during the conversion between different forms of N, can be used to constrain marine N budgets. However, the reported extent of N isotope fractionation during benthic N₂ production has differed substantially between studies, leading to uncertainty in the estimate of the global benthic N₂ production rate. To assess the range and identify mechanisms underlying such observations, we developed a reactive transport model and ran simulations evaluating the impact of nitrification, denitrification, and anaerobic ammonium oxidation on the isotopic composition of in-situ N­₂ production. Different hydrodynamic regimes were taken into account, including advective flow induced by bioirrigation and purely diffusive transport. The effects of the benthic mineralization rate and the composition of the overlying water were also quantified.

The benthic redox conditions were found to control the N isotope effect, which under reducing conditions is driven by fractionation during nitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation and under oxidizing conditions by fractionation during denitrification. The mineralization rate, the bioirrigation intensity, and chemical composition of the overlying water affect the benthic redox zonation and therefore also the benthic N isotope effect.

With increasing water-depth the mineralization rate and the advective nitrate supply to the sediment both decrease, constraining most benthic N cycling to the continental shelf. Simulations that reproduce observed trends of sediment O₂ uptake and N₂ fluxes with water depth, combined with ocean bathymetry yield an average benthic N isotope effect of -3‰, in line with independent estimates from global circulation models coupled to N cycle models (Somes et al., 2013. Biogeosciences 10, 5889-5910).