Selective depressions of surface silicic acid within cyclonic mesoscale eddies in the oligotrophic western North Pacific

• Long-cell colorimetry detected nanomolar concentrations of surface nutrients.
• Nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate were depleted throughout the western North Pacific.
• Selective depressions of silicic acid were observed within cyclonic mesoscale eddies.
• A complete depletion of silicic acid (<11 nM) was coupled with a diatom bloom.

To reveal spatial dynamics of silicic acid [Si(OH)4] in the poorly sampled oligotrophic western North Pacific, we investigated the surface distribution of Si(OH)4 and associated biogeochemical parameters by using an underway survey system with a highly sensitive nutrient analyzer along the 138°E transect (between 30 and 34°N) and the 155°E transect (between 10 and 35°N) during the summers of 2007 and 2008. Surface Si(OH)4 concentrations ranged from the detection limit (11 nmol L−1) to 2462 nmol L−1. High Si(OH)4 concentrations (>1000 nmol L−1) and dynamic fluctuations were generally observed north of 23°N, while consistently stable low concentrations of 415–751 nmol L−1 were observed south of 23°N. Surface nitrate+nitrite (N+N) and phosphate (PO43−) were typically depleted to <20 nmol L−1, except for PO43− in the area south of 16°N. The majority of the study area was characterized by high-Si(OH)4 and low-N+N and PO43−. However, submesoscale/mesoscale depressions of Si(OH)4 were locally observed in the cyclonic eddy fields north of 23°N. Among a total of six Si(OH)4 depressions within the eddies, a complete Si(OH)4 depletion (<11 nmol L−1) was observed on the cyclonic side near the Kuroshio axis (33.1°N, 138°E). This depletion was closely coupled with a diatom bloom, suggesting that Si(OH)4 was exhausted by diatoms. All of the Si(OH)4 depressions were selective and not accompanied by local depressions of N+N and PO43−. This unique phenomenon might be driven by biogeochemical processes such as selective Si export (Si pump), anomalous Si uptake associated with diatom physiology, and/or Si uptake supported by N2 fixation.