Zerkle, AL, Poulton, SW orcid.org/0000-0001-7621-189X, Newton, RJ orcid.org/0000-0003-0144-6867 et al. (4 more authors) (2017) Onset of the aerobic nitrogen cycle during the Great Oxidation Event. Nature, 542 (7642). pp. 465-467. ISSN 0028-0836
Abstract
The rise of oxygen on the early Earth (about 2.4 billion years ago)1 caused a reorganization of marine nutrient cycles2, 3, including that of nitrogen, which is important for controlling global primary productivity. However, current geochemical records4 lack the temporal resolution to address the nature and timing of the biogeochemical response to oxygenation directly. Here we couple records of ocean redox chemistry with nitrogen isotope (15N/14N) values from approximately 2.31-billion-year-old shales5 of the Rooihoogte and Timeball Hill formations in South Africa, deposited during the early stages of the first rise in atmospheric oxygen on the Earth (the Great Oxidation Event)6. Our data fill a gap of about 400 million years in the temporal 15N/14N record4 and provide evidence for the emergence of a pervasive aerobic marine nitrogen cycle. The interpretation of our nitrogen isotope data in the context of iron speciation and carbon isotope data suggests biogeochemical cycling across a dynamic redox boundary, with primary productivity fuelled by chemoautotrophic production and a nitrogen cycle dominated by nitrogen loss processes using newly available marine oxidants. This chemostratigraphic trend constrains the onset of widespread nitrate availability associated with ocean oxygenation. The rise of marine nitrate could have allowed for the rapid diversification and proliferation of nitrate-using cyanobacteria and, potentially, eukaryotic phytoplankton.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Nature. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Element cycles; Geochemistry |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Dec 2016 15:21 |
Last Modified: | 06 Oct 2020 10:28 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20826 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/nature20826 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:108920 |