Long term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords

Long term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Long term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords Henry Cheung, Lubrina Levin, Craig Smeaton, Tobia Politi, Bo Thamdrup, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7808814/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Nitrogen (N) availability regulates primary productivity and hence directly affects the global oceanic carbon cycle. Marine carbon sequestration is strongly influenced by the balance between N uptake and loss. Global fjord systems account for up to 11% of total marine C sequestration. However, N cycling – particularly N loss via sediment burial – remains largely unquantified in fjords worldwide. Here, we show that global fjords are hotspots of N burial accounting for up to 18% of global oceanic N burial despite only covering 0.1% of the ocean area. Burial is the dominant N loss mechanism in fjords, exceeding microbial N loss via denitrification and anammox that are often considered the major marine N loss mechanisms. Microbial N loss was dominant in fjords with an anoxic water column. In addition to fjord redox condition, microbial N loss appears to be a function of temperature and nutrient availability. Overall, fjords provide an important service efficiently sequestering N excess over long time scales. Accelerated warming in polar regions will promote both burial and microbial N loss, affecting the N budgets in fjords and in the ocean in general. Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Element cycles Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry/Marine chemistry Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files CheungNatCommSI.docx Supplementary Materials for Long term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 01 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7808814","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":557230649,"identity":"47c35ee2-fbc7-4e18-a960-7f15082d6d52","order_by":0,"name":"Henry 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Marine carbon sequestration is strongly influenced by the balance between N uptake and loss. Global fjord systems account for up to 11% of total marine C sequestration. However, N cycling \u0026ndash; particularly N loss via sediment burial \u0026ndash; remains largely unquantified in fjords worldwide. Here, we show that global fjords are hotspots of N burial accounting for up to 18% of global oceanic N burial despite only covering 0.1% of the ocean area. Burial is the dominant N loss mechanism in fjords, exceeding microbial N loss via denitrification and anammox that are often considered the major marine N loss mechanisms. Microbial N loss was dominant in fjords with an anoxic water column. In addition to fjord redox condition, microbial N loss appears to be a function of temperature and nutrient availability. Overall, fjords provide an important service efficiently sequestering N excess over long time scales. Accelerated warming in polar regions will promote both burial and microbial N loss, affecting the N budgets in fjords and in the ocean in general.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Long term nitrogen burial exceeds denitrification in global fjords","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-15 07:19:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7808814/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d788e786-7e87-4b5e-8d2a-11e249f30b5f","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":59306099,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Biogeochemistry/Element cycles"},{"id":59306100,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental chemistry/Marine chemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-02T07:07:52+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7808814","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71116-5","journal":{"identity":"nature-communications","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Communications"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-01 04:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 1st, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-15 07:19:37","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41467-026-71116-5","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71116-5","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7808814","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7808814","identity":"rs-7808814","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}