Biogeosciences www.biogeosciences.net 1726-4170 1726-4189 4 5 2007 10.5194/bg-4-729-2007 http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/729/2007/ http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/729/2007/bg-4-729-2007.html http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/729/2007/bg-4-729-2007.pdf 729 741 2007-09-13 Nitrous oxide distribution and its origin in the central and eastern South Pacific Subtropical Gyre J. Charpentier jcharpentier@profc.udec.cl L. Farias N. Yoshida N. Boontanon P. Raimbault Programa de Postgrado, Departamento de Oceanografía, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Chile Departamento de Oceanografía & Centro Oceanográfico del Pacífico Sur (COPAS), Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile Frontier Collaborative Research Center, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan SORST project, JST, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University 999 Phuttamonthon 4 Road, Phuttamonthon, Salaya, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand Laboratoire d'Océanographie et de Biogéochimie (CNRS UMR 6535), Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, Campus de Luminy, Marseille Cedex, France The mechanisms of microbial nitrous oxide (N₂O) production in the ocean have been the subject of many discussions in recent years. New isotopomeric tools can further refine our knowledge of N₂O sources in natural environments. This study compares hydrographic, N₂O concentration, and N₂O isotopic and isotopomeric data from three stations along a coast-perpendicular transect in the South Pacific Ocean, extending from the center (Sts. GYR and EGY) of the subtropical oligotrophic gyre (~26° S; 114° W) to the upwelling zone (St. UPX) off the central Chilean coast (~34° S). Although AOU/N₂O and NO₃^− trends support the idea that most of the N₂O (mainly from intermediate water (200–600 m)) comes from nitrification, N₂O isotopomeric composition (intramolecular distribution of ¹⁵N isotopes) expressed as SP (site preference of ¹⁵N) shows low values (10 to 12\permil) that could be attributed to the production through of microbial nitrifier denitrification (reduction of nitrite to N₂O mediated by ammonium oxidizers). The coincidence of this SP signal with high – stability layer, where sinking organic particles can accumulate, suggests that N₂O could be produced by nitrifier denitrification inside particles. 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