Determination of ammonium regeneration rates in the oligotrophic ocean by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

A method has been developed for the determination of ammonium concentration and isotopic enrichment in seawater samples at the low nanomolar range (10–100 nmol/kg). It is based on the reaction of phenol/hypochlorite with ammonium to form indophenol, with subsequent solid phase extraction, derivatisation and analysis by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. The precision of the method was maximised by incorporating a deuterated indophenol internal standard. A system was developed which generated seawater with extremely low ammonium concentrations thus matching sample and standard matrices for quantitative analysis. Data are presented from a study of ammonium regeneration rates at three stations in the oligotrophic North–East Atlantic where ambient ammonium concentrations were < 21 nmol/kg. Results suggested that ammonium availability for phytoplankton was limited by the rate of ammonium regeneration. Efficient ammonium assimilation contributed to the very low ambient ammonium concentrations measured at these stations. The study highlights the need for the accurate determination of ammonium regeneration rates in studies of new production, particularly in extreme oligotrophic conditions. If not corrected for isotope dilution, f-ratio estimates may be overestimated by 10.7–13.7%.