Biogeosciences www.biogeosciences.net 1726-4170 1726-4189 5 1 2008 10.5194/bg-5-95-2008 http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/95/2008/ http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/95/2008/bg-5-95-2008.html http://www.biogeosciences.net/5/95/2008/bg-5-95-2008.pdf 95 109 2008-01-29 Phosphate availability and the ultimate control of new nitrogen input by nitrogen fixation in the tropical Pacific Ocean T. Moutin thierry.moutin@univmed.fr D. M. Karl S. Duhamel P. Rimmelin P. Raimbault B. A. S. Van Mooy H. Claustre Laboratoire d'Océanographie et de Biogéochimie, UMR-CNRS 6535, Campus de Luminy, 13 288 Marseille Cedex 09, France Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, MA 02543, USA Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche, CNRS-INSU and UPMC, BP 08, 06238 Villefranche-sur-mer, France Due to the low atmospheric input of phosphate into the open ocean, it is one of the key nutrients that could ultimately control primary production and carbon export into the deep ocean. The observed trend over the last 20 years has shown a decrease in the dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) pool in the North Pacific gyre, which has been correlated to the increase in di-nitrogen (N2) fixation rates. Following a NW-SE transect, in the Southeast Pacific during the early austral summer (BIOSOPE cruise), we present data on DIP, dissolved organic phosphate (DOP) and particulate phosphate (PP) pools along with DIP turnover times (TDIP) and N2 fixation rates. We observed a decrease in DIP concentration from the edges to the centre of the gyre. Nevertheless the DIP concentrations remained above 100 nmol L−1 and T DIP was more than 6 months in the centre of the gyre; DIP availability remained largely above the level required for phosphate limitation to occur and the absence of Trichodesmium spp and low nitrogen fixation rates were likely to be controlled by other factors such as temperature or iron availability. This contrasts with recent observations in the North Pacific Ocean at the ALOHA station and in the western Pacific Ocean at the same latitude (DIAPALIS cruises) where lower DIP concentrations (<20 nmol L−1) and T DIP <50 h were measured during the summer season in the upper layer. 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