Nitrate dual isotopic composition in the northern South China Sea and neighboring West Philippine Sea

Nitrate nitrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions (δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3) were used to diagnose nitrate dynamics and the origins of water masses in the northern South China Sea (SCS) and West Philippine Sea (WPS) where water exchanges via the Luzon Strait at different depths. In the SCS, 1-3‰ greater upward increase in δ18ONO3 relative to corresponding δ15NNO3 was just observed in the lower euphotic zone (EZ), indicating a rapid internal cycle of nitrate assimilation and remineralization. Much lower nitrate concentration in the EZ of WPS does not allow us to measure its dual isotopes. From 500 m deep to the base of EZ in the WPS, non-proportional decreases in δ15NNO3 (from 6.4‰ to 2.1-2.6‰) and δ18ONO3 (from 3.0‰ to 1.1‰) accompanying with elevated N:P ratio anomalies (N* from -1.2 μM up to 2 μM), suggest the accumulation of atmospheric-derived N (e.g. N2 fixation and/or N deposition). This allochthonous N signal cumulated in the subsurface of WPS may regulate the δ15NNO3 in the SCS subsurface due to seasonal Kuroshio intrusion, which could supply isotopically light nitrate as newly fixed N source to the SCS. The higher (~0.5‰) δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3 values, associated with lower N* were detected in the WPS intermediate water (WPS-IW, σθ = 26.5~27.1 kg m-3) around depth of 600-800 m (especially at a southern site) when compared to those of the conventional water source coming from North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). By combining nitrate concentration, N* and δ15NNO3 as constraints, we propose that an additional southerly source other than NPIW may feed into the WPS-IW. On the other hand, the SCS intermediate water (SCS-IW, ~400-700 m), which supposedly sourced from WPS-IW along similar isopycnal levels, showed ~1‰ lower δ15NNO3 and δ18ONO3 values. This reduction in nitrate duel isotopes indicates intense diapycnal mixing primarily due to basin-wide upwelling in the SCS interior. This is the first hand data in the SCS for deep profiles of duel isotopes in nitrate, the complex 3-D mixing among the SCS interior and neighboring WPS likely to be resolved if more profiles can be done.