Seawater carbonate chemistry and benthic primary production and inorganic nitrogen fluxes in two coastal sediments

Ocean acidification may alter the cycling of nitrogen in coastal sediment and so the sediment-seawater nitrogen flux, an important driver of pelagic productivity. To investigate how this perturbation affects the fluxes of NOX- (nitrite/nitrate), NH4+ and O2, we incubated estuarine sand and subtidal silt in recirculating seawater with a CO2-adjusted pH of 8.1 and 7.9. During a 41-day incubation, the seawater kept at pH 8.1 lost 97% of its NOX- content but the seawater kept at pH 7.9 lost only 18%. Excess CO2 increased benthic photosynthesis. In the silt, this was accompanied by a reversal of the initial NOX- efflux into influx. The estuarine sand sustained its initial NOX- influx but, by the end of the incubation, released more NH4+ at pH 7.9 than at pH 8.1. We hypothesise that these effects share a common cause; excess CO2 increased the growth of benthic microalgae and so nutrient competition with ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB). In the silt, diatoms likely outcompeted AOB for NH4+ and photosynthesis increased the dark/light fluctuations in the pore water oxygenation inhibiting nitrification and coupled nitrification/denitrification. If this is correct, then excess CO2 may lead to retention of inorganic nitrogen adding to the pressures of increasing coastal eutrophication.

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Vopel, Kay, Del-Río, Vopel, Pilditch, Conrad A (2018). Dataset: Seawater carbonate chemistry and benthic primary production and inorganic nitrogen fluxes in two coastal sediments. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.887792

DOI retrieved: 2018

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on December 1, 2024
Last update December 1, 2024
License CC-BY-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.887792
Author Vopel, Kay
Given Name Kay
Family Name Vopel
More Authors
Del-Río, Vopel
Pilditch, Conrad A
Source Creation 2018
Publication Year 2018
Resource Type text/tab-separated-values - filename: Vopel-etal_2018_SR
Subject Areas
Name: Chemistry

Related Identifiers
Title: Effects of CO2 enrichment on benthic primary production and inorganic nitrogen fluxes in two coastal sediments
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-19051-w
Type: DOI
Relation: IsSupplementTo
Year: 2018
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Vopel Kay , Del-Río Vopel , Pilditch Conrad A .

Title: seacarb: seawater carbonate chemistry with R. R package version 3.1
Identifier: https://cran.r-project.org/package=seacarb
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2016
Authors: Gattuso Jean-Pierre , Epitalon Jean-Marie , Lavigne Héloïse , Orr James C , Gentili Bernard , Proye Aurélien , Soetaert Karline , Rae James .