N2O Dynamics in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT OCE-0240787 In this research project, scientists at the University of Hawaii will study the rate of nitrous oxide (N2O) formation in seawater and determine how production rate relates to the release of N2O to the overlying atmosphere in the eastern tropical North Pacific Ocean, the subarctic Pacific Ocean and in the Bering Sea. The experiments will identify the relative importance of the microbiological pathways by which N2O is produced in diverse marine environments. This study will take advantage of several new analytical innovations to refine our understanding of N2O cycling in the eastern tropical North Pacific and to extend our knowledge of N2O sources and sinks to the subarctic Pacific and the Bering Sea. The research team will take advantage of a rare opportunity to join already-funded research cruises to explore large regions of the ocean that are at once poorly understood but also very quantitatively significant in the workings of the global nitrogen cycle.