Nwafor, Chudwudi E. (2023) The temporal and spatial variability of nitrous oxide (N2O) in the southern Baltic Sea. (Master thesis), Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, Germany, 121 pp.

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Abstract

Coastal seas play an important role in the release of nitrous oxide (N2O) into the atmosphere. Ongoing climate changes have a tremendous impact on ocean biogeochemical processes and are expected to affect the distribution of trace gases such as nitrous oxide in the water column. Here we present our data of N2O measurements from Eckernförde Bay (Boknis Eck time series station) conducted between the years 2019 and 2023, as well as data from the SEA-EU cruise in May 2022. No studies on the effects of heatwaves on N2O production in the Boknis Eck time series have been conducted for more than two decades. From our measured N2O concentration data at the Boknis Eck time series site, it appears that heatwaves do not contribute to N2O production. However, we did not record very high temperatures between these years. Other observations such as N2O saturation and apparent oxygen utilization at Boknis Eck were compared to the SEA-EU cruise transect. N2O saturation for both measurements was positively correlated, with nearly all data being oversaturated, contrary with previous studies in the
Southern Ocean. N2O concentration showed no significant relationship with temperature and salinity. Excess N2O (∆N2O) did not correlate with apparent oxygen utilization at the Boknis Eck time series, but showed a slight correlation during the SEA-EU cruise. Nitrate and nitrite were deficient throughout the water column at both stations. Finally, this study focuses on the temporal and spatial variability of N2O in the Baltic Sea from N2O measurements and on determining the main N2O production mechanism.

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