Abstract
ESTIMATES of atmospheric nitrogen budgets, based largely on nitrate measurements, suggest that over half of the reactive nitrogen is derived from anthropogenic sources1. As there are so few data for the oceans it is difficult to assess the impact of continental sources on the marine atmosphere. Here we present data from several years of continuous sampling in a Pacific island network. The lowest concentrations, 0.11μgm−3 (ref. 2), were consistently obtained at three South Pacific stations, where the effect of continental sources is minimal3. By contrast, in the North Pacific, nitrate concentration was about three times greater and was co-seasonal with Asian dust transport, suggesting that much of the nitrate over the North Pacific is derived from continental sources3–5. If we assume that the South Pacific nitrate values are representative of oceanic 'background' sources and that these background values are applicable to the North Pacific, then we conclude that continental sources, which are predominantly anthropogenic1, are responsible for 40–70% of the atmospheric nitrate over this region.
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Prospero, J., Savoie, D. Effect of continental sources on nitrate concentrations over the Pacific Ocean. Nature 339, 687–689 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/339687a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/339687a0
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