Nutrient Regeneration in Deep Baffin Bay with Consequences for Measurements of the Conservative Tracer NO and Fossil Fuel CO2 in the Oceans

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Abstract
We found the nitrate to phosphate ratio of nutrients regenerated in Baffin Bay to be lower than is typical of most other ocean regions. The conservative tracers NO and PO are constant for water below 500 m providing NO and PO are redefined to account for this different nitrogen to phosphate ratio in the decaying organic matter of Baffin Bay. A modified stoichiometric model for decaying organic material in Baffin Bay was constructed based on measured values of carbonate, nitrate, and phosphate. A major difficulty in assessing the amount of fossil fuel CO2 in the ocean is the determination of the amount of inorganic carbon produced during the decay of biogenic material. Using the modified stoichiometric model for decaying biogenic material, we show how regional and seasonal variations in the amount of carbon released and oxygen consumed during decay could be sufficiently different from what is predicted by the Redfield–Ketchum–Richards model to cause major differences in the assessment of the amount of fossil fuel CO2 present in the water. The modified stoichiometric model offers the opportunity to determine the oxygen–carbon relationships more accurately and to obtain better estimates of fossil fuel CO2 in the ocean.
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