Effect of continental sources on nitrate concentrations over the Pacific Ocean
Abstract
Data from several years of continuous sampling of nitrate concentrations in a Pacific island network are presented. The lowest concentrations, 0.11 micrograms/cu cm, were consistently obtained at three South Pacific stations, where the effect of continental sources is minimal. By contrast, in the North Pacific, nitrate concentration was about three times greater and was coseasonal with Asian dust transport, suggesting that much of the nitrate over the North Pacific is derived from continental sources. If the South Pacific nitrate values are representative of oceanic 'background' sources and these background values are applicable to the North Pacific, then continental sources, which are predominantly anthropogenic, are responsible for 40-70 percent of the atmospheric nitrate over this region.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- June 1989
- DOI:
- 10.1038/339687a0
- Bibcode:
- 1989Natur.339..687P
- Keywords:
-
- Man Environment Interactions;
- Marine Environments;
- Nitrites;
- Nonpoint Sources;
- Pacific Ocean;
- Annual Variations;
- Pacific Islands;
- Geophysics