Seasonal nutrient dynamics in the western Bering Sea
Kirill Kivva1 and Vladimir Matveev2
1
Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), Moscow,
Russia. E-mail: kirill.kivva@gmail.com
2
Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (TINRO-Center), Vladivostok,
Russia
Intra- and interannual changes in the nutrient content in some regions of the Bering Sea
have been shown previously to be affected by climatic state of the North Pacific, and
have an impact on mean seasonal primary production rates. The objective of this study is
to reconstruct the seasonal changes of dissolved inorganic nutrient content (silica,
phosphorus, and nitrogen) in the western Bering Sea. To achieve broad temporal and
spatial coverage, nutrient data from VNIRO, TINRO-Center, and NOAA NODC datasets
were merged into a single data set. The Bering Sea area was divided into eight regions in
accordance with previously documented physical environmental characteristics (e. g.
presence of ice, current and frontal systems, and heat-exchange regimes). Combination of
data from several earlier and recent surveys allowed us to revise the regional-scale
seasonal dynamic of the nutrient field. Despite the lack of winter and spring data for the
area, existing data was supported with values of the cold intermediate layer. The analysis
provides new results on regional ΔSi/ΔN/ΔP ratios which may be used further for
assessment of primary production.