Abstract. Sedimentary δ 15 N records in two IMAGES cores (MD012404 and MD012403) retrieved from the Okinawa Trough (OT) in the western North Pacific reveal deglacial increases with two peaks occurring during the Bølling/Allerød and the Preboreal/early Holocene periods. These peaks are synchronous with previously reported δ 15 N peaks in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific, although the amplitudes (from 3.8 to 5.8‰) are much smaller in the OT. Similar δ 15 N values for the last glacial maximum and the late-Holocene observed by us at a site far from the present-day zones of water-column denitrification (WCD) indicate that the mean 15 N/ 14 N of nitrate in the upper ocean did not differ much between the two climate states. The accumulation rate of organic carbon and total sulfur content are used as indices of the local WCD potential. The results suggest that enhancement of global WCD rather than local denitrification should be responsible for the deglacial maxima of sedimentary δ 15 N in the Okinawa Trough. Our data could provide additional constraints to better understand changes in nitrogen budget during the glacial to interglacial transition.

Abstract. Sedimentary δ15N record for the past 30 ka buried in the Okinawa Trough in the western North Pacific mimicking the pattern from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP), but the values (4.4–5.8‰) and the amplitude of the variation were much smaller than those (9–17‰) of the previous site. All but three values in the record were lower than the mean δ15N (5.6‰) of nitrate in the upper 800 m of the Kuroshio water suggesting additional inputs of isotopically light nitrogen from N2-fixation. The peak values of δ15N occurred during the Bølling/Allerød period and the warming period right after the Younger Dryas, synchronous to those found in the Eastern North Pacific. It is highly probable the high δ15N values are originated from the influence of the intensified denitrification in the ETNP during the warming periods. These new data represent the sedimentary record most distant from the intensive denitrifying zone in the ETNP and may serve as critical constraints to better quantify the nitrogen budget in the last climate cycle.