Coastal shelf seas are zones of intense nutrient cycling, where a strong coupling between the sediment and the water column enhances primary productivity. To identify factors that control the strength of this benthic-pelagic coupling we measured sediment characteristics, solute fluxes, and porewater nutrient profiles in spring along a south - north transect in the North Sea crossing distinct regions: the shallow Oyster Grounds closest to the Dutch shore, the shallow Dogger Bank, the 80-m deep central North Sea, and the 150-m deep Fladen Grounds between the north of Scotland and Norway. The data were used to constrain rates of different mineralization processes with the 1-D diagenetic model (OMEXDIA). Surprisingly, we found no major differences in the biogeochemical signature along the 670 km long North Sea transect, despite sediments ranging in median grainsize from 25 to 217 μm, and a permeability range >3 orders of magnitude. Total carbon mineralization ranged between 4 and 13.5 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹, and decreased significantly northward. Oxic mineralization was the dominant mineralization process in all studied sites. Finest, least permeable sediments were found in the Fladen Grounds where highest denitrification rates were recorded, linked to high nitrate concentrations in the overlying water. The coarsest, most permeable sediments of the shallow Dogger Bank represented a transition area between the Oyster Grounds, where oxic mineralization was highest (75–90%), and the central North Sea samples, where anoxic mineralization increased relative to oxic mineralization due to higher bioturbation rates (oxic: 59–72%, anoxic: 27–39%). Overall, denitrification rates increased, while phosphorus removal tended to decrease northward. This contrasting behaviour in nitrogen and phosphorus removal was identified as a possible cause for decreasing DIN:DIP ratios in the water column towards the north.

沿海陆架海域是营养物质密集循环的区域，沉积物和水柱之间的强耦合增强了初级生产力。为了确定控制这种底栖-上浮耦合强度的因素，我们测量了北海跨越不同区域的南北样带春季春季的沉积物特征，溶质通量和孔隙水养分分布：最靠近荷兰海岸的浅牡蛎地，浅的Dogger银行，北海中部80米深处以及苏格兰和挪威北部之间150米深的弗拉登地面。使用一维成岩模型（OMEXDIA）将数据用于约束不同矿化过程的速率。令人惊讶的是，我们发现沿670公里长的北海样带的生物地球化学特征没有重大差异，尽管沉积物的中值粒径范围为25至217μm，渗透率范围> 3个数量级。总碳矿化度介于4和13.5 mmol C m之间⁻² d ^-1，并显着向北减少。氧化矿化作用是所有研究地点的主要矿化过程。在弗拉登土地上发现了最好的，渗透性最差的沉积物，那里的反硝化率最高，与上覆水中的硝酸盐浓度高有关。浅水道格河岸最粗，最易渗透的沉积物代表了牡蛎地（其中有氧矿化度最高（75-90％））和北海中部样品之间的过渡区域，该地区的无氧矿化度相对于有氧矿化度增加生物扰动率（有氧：59–72％，无氧：27–39％）。总体而言，反硝化率增加，而磷去除率则向北下降。氮和磷去除的这种相反行为被认为是降低DIN的可能原因：