Arctic Rivers Trade Inorganic Nitrogen for Organic | EOS

The Lena River in Siberia, Russia, one of six great rivers that empty into the Arctic Ocean that are studied by the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory. Photo: Jim McClelland

Scientists from the Arctic Great Rivers Observatory (), including project lead and MBLSenior Scientist Jim McClelland, are among the co-authors of highlighted here in EOS, a magazine published by the American Geophysical Union. 

Human activity is shifting the type of nitrogen flowing out of Arctic rivers and into the Arctic Ocean, a new publication shows. The amount of organic nitrogen, which is derived from living things, is going up. Meanwhile, the amount of inorganic nitrogen, which is produced from nitrogen in the air through chemical reactions, is going down.

sampled water from sites at six Arctic rivers: the Kolyma, Lena, Ob, and Yenisey in Russia; the Mackenzie in Canada; and the Yukon in the United States. Together, these watersheds cover about two thirds of the land area that drains into the Arctic Ocean.

Source: Arctic Rivers Trade Inorganic Nitrogen for Organic | EOS