Epipelagic nitrous oxide production offsets carbon sequestration by the biological pump

Xianhui S. Wan; Hua Xia Sheng; Minhan Dai; Karen L. Casciotti; Matthew J. Church; Wenbin Zou; Li Liu; Hui Shen; Kuanbo Zhou; Bess B. Ward; Shuh Ji Kao

doi:10.1038/s41561-022-01090-2

Epipelagic nitrous oxide production offsets carbon sequestration by the biological pump

Xianhui S. Wan, Hua Xia Sheng, Minhan Dai, Karen L. Casciotti, Matthew J. Church, Wenbin Zou, Li Liu, Hui Shen, Kuanbo Zhou, Bess B. Ward, Shuh Ji Kao

Flathead Lake Biological Station

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the marine biological pump is a key regulator of Earth’s climate; however, the ocean also serves as a large source of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance. Although biological carbon sequestration and nitrous oxide production have been individually studied in the ocean, their combined impacts on net greenhouse forcing remain uncertain. Here we show that the magnitude of nitrous oxide production in the epipelagic zone of the subtropical ocean covaries with remineralization processes and thus acts antagonistically to weaken the radiative benefit of carbon removal by the marine biological pump. Carbon and nitrogen isotope tracer incubation experiments and nitrogen isotope natural abundance data indicate enhanced biological activity promotes nitrogen recycling, leading to substantial nitrous oxide production via both oxidative and reductive pathways. These shallow-water nitrous oxide sources account for nearly half of the air–sea flux and counteract 6–27% (median 9%) of the greenhouse warming mitigation achieved by carbon export via the biological pump.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	29-36
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nature Geoscience
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01090-2
State	Published - Jan 2023

Funding

We greatly appreciate S. S. Hsiao, Y. Wu, M. Xu, M. He, X. Zhang, G. Shao, W. Zhang and Q. Wu’s inputs during on-board sampling and incubation in the research cruises. We also thank T. Huang and Y. Zhu for the on-board measurement of NH, Y. Wu and L. Wang for NO, NO and PO measurements and Q. Hong, Y. Ma and W. Chen for measuring the Th. We are also grateful for the crew of the RV Dongfanghong II and RV Tan Kah Kee for the on-board assistance and providing the CTD data. Comments from T. W. Trull and H. M. Nelson improved earlier versions of the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through grants 92058204, 41890802, 922583024, 1721005, 41730533 and 41906040. M.J.C. acknowledges funding from the Simons Foundation via SCOPE (grant 721221). 4 + 3 − 2 − 4 3− 234

Funders	Funder number
Simons Foundation	721221
National Natural Science Foundation of China	41730533, 1721005, 92058204, 922583024, 41906040, 41890802

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abstract = "The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the marine biological pump is a key regulator of Earth{\textquoteright}s climate; however, the ocean also serves as a large source of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance. Although biological carbon sequestration and nitrous oxide production have been individually studied in the ocean, their combined impacts on net greenhouse forcing remain uncertain. Here we show that the magnitude of nitrous oxide production in the epipelagic zone of the subtropical ocean covaries with remineralization processes and thus acts antagonistically to weaken the radiative benefit of carbon removal by the marine biological pump. Carbon and nitrogen isotope tracer incubation experiments and nitrogen isotope natural abundance data indicate enhanced biological activity promotes nitrogen recycling, leading to substantial nitrous oxide production via both oxidative and reductive pathways. These shallow-water nitrous oxide sources account for nearly half of the air–sea flux and counteract 6–27% (median 9%) of the greenhouse warming mitigation achieved by carbon export via the biological pump.",

author = "Wan, {Xianhui S.} and Sheng, {Hua Xia} and Minhan Dai and Casciotti, {Karen L.} and Church, {Matthew J.} and Wenbin Zou and Li Liu and Hui Shen and Kuanbo Zhou and Ward, {Bess B.} and Kao, {Shuh Ji}",

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AU - Church, Matthew J.

AU - Zou, Wenbin

AU - Liu, Li

AU - Shen, Hui

AU - Zhou, Kuanbo

AU - Ward, Bess B.

AU - Kao, Shuh Ji

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Epipelagic nitrous oxide production offsets carbon sequestration by the biological pump

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