Nutrients in the Atlantic Thermocline

A set of maps are presented of nutrient distribution on isopycnal surfaces in the North and tropical Atlantic Ocean main thermocline. The data used in producing these maps are from the Transient Tracers in the Oceans (TTO) North Atlantic Study and Tropical Atlantic Study, an associated German study (Meteor 56/5), two cross-Atlantic sections from cruise 109 of the Atlantis II, and the GEOSECS program. The nutrient distributions reflect primarily the sources at the northern and southern outcrops of the isopycnal surfaces, the in situ regeneration due to decomposition of sinking organic materials, and the interior physical processes as inferred from thermocline models and the distribution of conservative properties such as salinity. However, silica also exhibits behavior that cannot be explained by in situ regeneration. A simple phenomenological model suggests that cross-isopycnal advection and mixing in the equatorial region may play an important role in the nutrient dynamics. These data should prove of great value in constraining models of physical as well as biogeochemical processes.