Nutrients, oxygen, and inferred new production in the Northeast Water Polynya, 1992

Measurements made during a hydrographic survey during July-August 1992 were interpreted in the context of satellite imagery of the region. Satellite imagery revealed a convoluted plume of cold water flowing along isobaths from underneath fast ice in the southwestern portion of the polynya toward the northeast. This plume carried relatively high nutrient and low oxygen inventories. Nitrate to phosphate ratios were low in the polar water, consistent with an ultimate source of this water mass in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean. It is hypothesized that the low N:P Arctic outflow might be the cause of nitrate limitation along the east coast of America as far as Cape Hatteras. -from Authors