SGER: North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

摘要化学和生物海洋学家长期以来一直对中央大洋环流初级生产力的营养物质来源，特别是氮的来源感到困惑。在北太平洋中部的情况下，一些人认为固氮菌可能是答案，而一小部分人认为更有可能是来自盆地其他地区的氮平流。在这项小而巧妙的研究中，首席研究员和华盛顿大学的一群学生将结合从华盛顿到夏威夷的邮轮上进行的空间连续化学和水文测量，以估计从北美大陆架到盆地内部的水平运输预计会有多重要。这将是第一次作出足够分辨率的水平剖面，以便能够评估营养物质从边缘到中心的环流输送的重要性。

ABSTRACT Chemical and biological oceanographers have long puzzled over the source of nutrients, especially nitrogen, to primary production in the central ocean gyres. In the case of the central North Pacific, some believe that nitrogen fixing bacteria may be the answer while a smaller group believes that advection of nitrogen from other parts of the basin is more likely. In this small but clever study, the principal investigator and a group of students from the University of Washington will combine spatially continuous chemical and hydrographic measurements taken underway on a cruise from Washington to Hawaii to estimate how important horizontal transport from the North American shelf to the basin interior can be expected to be. This will be the first time that a horizontal profile of sufficient resolution has been made to allow assessment of the importance of margin-to-central gyre transport of nutrients.