Particulate nitrogen and phosphorus in the East China Sea and its adjacent Kuroshio waters and evaluation of budgets for the East China Sea Shelf

摘要

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in suspended particles are important to the cycles of N and P in marine ecosystem. Suspended particles were collected from the East China Sea (ECS) and its adjacent Kuroshio waters to investigate the composing and distribution characteristics of particulate inorganic and organic nitrogen and phosphorus (PIN, PIP, PON and POP, respectively). The particulate N and P concentrations were fairly low in the Kuroshio water but much higher in the ECS water, especially in nearshore waters. PON and PIP were the dominant forms of particulate N and P, with an exception that POP was the major form of particulate P in the Kuroshio upper water. The regime of particulate N and Pin the ECS was strongly influenced by riverine input, oceanic input, ocean current and photosynthesis. Among them, PON and POP were mainly from biogenic source, while PIN and PIP were originated from biogenic and external sources. And sedimentation, remineralization and resuspension were important influencing factors for the vertical distributions of particulate N and P.