Nitrate in the Changjiang diluted water: an isotopic evaluation on sources and reaction pathways -- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2021,39(3):830-845

	Cite this paper:
	Shan JIANG, Jie JIN, Guosen ZHANG, Yan CHANG, Zhaoru ZHANG, Meng ZHOU, Xiaolu WANG, Jing ZHANG, Ying WU. Nitrate in the Changjiang diluted water: an isotopic evaluation on sources and reaction pathways[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2021, 39(3): 830-845

Nitrate in the Changjiang diluted water: an isotopic evaluation on sources and reaction pathways

Shan JIANG¹, Jie JIN¹, Guosen ZHANG¹, Yan CHANG¹, Zhaoru ZHANG², Meng ZHOU², Xiaolu WANG¹, Jing ZHANG^1,2, Ying WU¹

1 State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China;
2 School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Abstract:

A cruise covering two transects in the Changjiang (Yangtze) estuary in July 2017 was conducted, aiming to explore the sources for riverine NO₃^- and identify reactions involved in the NO₃^- transformations along the transport of the Changjiang diluted water (CDW). In the river water, NO₃^- was fundamentally contributed by chemical fertilizer leakage in the watershed according to isotope signals. Sewage discharge may also be significant on riverine NO₃^- inventory, while the isotope signal was masked by nitrification. Together with the transport of the CDW, NO₃^- production was observed in waters with low salinities (<20) and high turbidities. Nitrification resulted from the mineralization of riverine organic nitrogen; therefore, the high turbidity was linked to active production. In the outer plume, coupled with stratification, a significant decrease in NO₃^- concentration was observed in the surface water. In parallel, enrichment in δ¹⁵N-NO₃^- and δ¹⁸O-NO₃^- was found, indicating biological consumption by phytoplankton. The difference in the stratification intensity between two transects led to variations in NO₃^- concentrations and isotope compositions. In the benthic water, denitrification (sediment-water interface) and nitrification (bottom water) coexisted. Furthermore, accumulations of NH₄⁺ and dissolved organic nitrogen in the bottom water were observed, indicating that nitrification was constrained by oxidant (mainly dissolved oxygen) supplies.

Key words: Changjiang diluted water (CDW)|denitrification and nitrification|estuary|production and removal|stable isotope

Received: 2020-04-07 Revised: 2020-05-18

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Articles by Shan JIANG

Articles by Jie JIN

Articles by Guosen ZHANG

Articles by Yan CHANG

Articles by Zhaoru ZHANG

Articles by Meng ZHOU

Articles by Xiaolu WANG

Articles by Jing ZHANG

Articles by Ying WU

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