The Nutrient Diol Index (NDI) has been proposed as a paleo sea surface nutrient proxy. However, the NDI's broad applicability needs to be further assessed by examining its temporal variability in association with modern sea surface nutrient concentrations. This study is the first report to evaluate the NDI with respect to sinking particles in the East Sea. The NDI values showed seasonal variations resembling those of the surface phosphate concentrations in the study area. However, the calibration based on the sinking particles at 1000 m water depth (NDI = 1.134 × [PO⁴⁻] + 0.115, R² = 0.59, n = 26) deviated from the newly compiled global surface sediment dataset (NDI = 0.392 × [PO⁴⁻] + 0.023; R² = 0.58, n = 566). This local calibration predicted the phosphate concentrations in surface sediments in the East Sea better than the global calibration. Our study suggests that the difference of the calibration slope between the East Sea trap dataset and the global surface sediment dataset might be associated with different 1,14-diol producers and their sensitivity to nutrient concentrations in the East Sea. Accordingly, the NDI should be further assessed in various oceanic settings before it is routinely used to reconstruct sea surface nutrient conditions.

已经提出了营养二元醇指数（NDI）作为古海面营养替代品。但是，NDI的广泛适用性需要通过检查其与现代海表养分浓度相关的时间变化来进一步评估。这项研究是评估NDI与东海沉没颗粒有关的第一份报告。NDI值显示季节性变化，类似于研究区域的表面磷酸盐浓度。然而，基于新的全球地表沉积物数据集（NDI = 0.392×）的标定是基于1000 m水深处的沉没颗粒（NDI = 1.134×[PO ⁴⁻ ] + 0.115，R ²  = 0.59，n = 26） [PO ^4- ] +0.023； R ²  ＝ 0.58，n = 566）。这项本地校准预测出东海表层沉积物中的磷酸盐浓度要好于全球校准。我们的研究表明，东海圈闭数据集和全球地表沉积物数据集之间的标定斜率差异可能与不同的1,14-二醇生产者及其对东海养分浓度的敏感性有关。因此，在常规用于重建海面营养状况之前，应在各种海洋环境中对NDI进行进一步评估。