Quantitative evaluation of iron transport processes in the Sea of Okhotsk

• We found the existence of two markedly Fe transport processes in the Sea of Okhotsk.
• The Fe is loaded from the Amur River and is transported by the ESC.
• The Fe transported by the OSIW reaches greater distances than that by the surface layer.
• Transported Fe by the OSIW influences the water columns on both sides of the Kuril Strait.

Comprehensive observations of the iron (Fe) distribution in the western Sea of Okhotsk were conducted and revealed the existence of two Fe transport processes in the sub-polar marginal sea. One transport process is Fe loading from the Amur River and transport by the East Sakhalin Current (ESC), and the other is Fe transport by the intermediate water (part of which was reported by Nishioka et al., 2007). Here, we report on quantitative evaluations of these two Fe transport processes. The surface dissolved Fe (Diss-Fe) and low salinity water distribution clearly indicate the influence of Fe discharge from the Amur River and the Fe that is transported by the East Sakhalin Current. The amounts of total dissolvable Fe (TD-Fe) and Diss-Fe that cross the surface of the northeast Sakhalin coastal area are estimated at 9.0 × 108 ∼ 1.3 × 109 g yr−1 and 1.0 × 108 ∼ 1.5 × 108 g yr−1, respectively. Although the ESC surface transport system along the Sakhalin coast is effective, the length-scale estimation of TD-Fe transport indicated that only 1.5% of the Fe at the mouth of the Amur River reached 52°N, which may be due to scavenging by biological particulates. High Fe anomalies were observed at the bottom of the continental shelf and the shelf break along the Sakhalin coast. The extremely low temperature and low N* water indicate that Fe resuspension due to the reducing properties of sediment occurred on the shelf and that the Fe was introduced to Dense Shelf Water (DSW) by tidal mixing. We estimate that the amounts of TD-Fe and Diss-Fe involved in the DSW on the continental shelf are 8.8 × 1010 ∼ 2.5 × 1011 g yr−1 and 2.3 × 109 ∼ 6.6 × 109 g yr−1, respectively. Length-scale estimates of TD-Fe transport indicate that 20% of the TD-Fe on the continental shelf remained in the Kuril Basin; thus, the TD-Fe in the intermediate water was efficiently transported to the Kuril Basin. These results indicate that two orders of magnitude more Fe is derived from the continental shelf by the intermediate water than by surface water and that Fe is transported a greater distance by intermediate water than by the surface layer. Additionally, the Fe that reached the Kuril Straits was mixed by intensive tidal mixing and influenced the vertical profiles of the water columns on both sides of the Kuril Straits in the Kuril Basin and the Oyashio region. Our quantitative evaluation also indicates other Fe inputs around the Kuril Strait.