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www.ocean-sci-discuss.net/7/177/2010/
doi:10.5194/osd-7-177-2010
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The role of continental shelves in nitrogen and carbon cycling
Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography, Halifax, Canada
Abstract. Continental shelves play a key role in the cycling of nitrogen and carbon. Here the physical transport and biogeochemical transformation processes affecting the fluxes into and out of continental shelf systems are reviewed, and their role in the global cycling of both elements is discussed. Uncertainties in observation-based estimates of nitrogen and carbon fluxes mostly result from uncertainties in the shelf-open ocean exchange of organic and inorganic matter, which is hard to quantify based on observations alone, but can be inferred from biogeochemical models. Model-based nitrogen and carbon budgets are presented for the Northwestern North Atlantic continental shelf. Results indicate that shelves are an important sink for fixed nitrogen and a source of alkalinity, but are not much more efficient in exporting organic carbon to the deep ocean than the adjacent open ocean for the shelf region considered.
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Citation: Fennel, K.: The role of continental shelves in nitrogen and carbon cycling, Ocean Sci. Discuss., 7, 177-205, doi:10.5194/osd-7-177-2010, 2010. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
