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The past to unravel the future: Deoxygenation events in the geological archive and the anthropocene oxygen crisis

Abstract.

"Despite the observation that we are witnessing a true oxygen crisis, the ocean deoxygenation theme is getting less attention from the media and population compared to other environmental stressors concerning climate change. The current ocean oxygen crisis is characterized by a complex interplay of climatic, biological, and oceanographic processes acting at different time scales. Earth system models offer insights into future deoxygenation events and their potential extent [...]".

 

Source: Science Direct
Authors: Alan Maria Mancini et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104664

Read the full article here.


Microscale dynamics promote segregated denitrification in diatom aggregates sinking slowly in bulk oxygenated seawater

Abstract.

"Sinking marine particles drive the biological pump that naturally sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. Despite their small size, the compartmentalized nature of particles promotes intense localized metabolic activity by their bacterial colonizers. Yet the mechanisms promoting the onset of denitrification, a metabolism that arises once oxygen is limiting, remain to be established. Here we show experimentally that slow sinking aggregates composed of marine diatoms—important primary producers for global carbon export—support active denitrification even among bulk oxygenated water typically thought to exclude anaerobic metabolisms. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Davide Ciccarese et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00935-x

Read the full article here.


Oxygenation of the Earth aided by mineral–organic carbon preservation

Abstract. 

"Photosynthesis produces molecular oxygen, but it is the burial of organic carbon in sediments that has allowed this O2 to accumulate in Earth’s atmosphere. Yet many direct controls on the preservation and burial of organic carbon have not been explored in detail. For modern Earth, it is known that reactive iron phases are important for organic carbon preservation, suggesting that the availability of particulate iron could be an important factor for the oxygenation of the oceans and atmosphere over Earth history. Here we develop a theoretical model to investigate the effect of mineral–organic preservation on the oxygenation of the Earth, supported by a proxy [...]".

 

Source: Nature 
Authors: Mingyu Zhao et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01133-2

Read the full article here.


Early detection of anthropogenic climate change signals in the ocean interior

Abstract. 

"Robust detection of anthropogenic climate change is crucial to: (i) improve our understanding of Earth system responses to external forcing, (ii) reduce uncertainty in future climate projections, and (iii) develop efficient mitigation and adaptation plans. Here, we use Earth system model projections to establish the detection timescales of anthropogenic signals in the global ocean through analyzing temperature, salinity, oxygen, and pH evolution from surface to 2000 m depths. For most variables, anthropogenic changes emerge earlier in the interior ocean than at the surface, due to the lower background variability at depth. [...]".

 

Source: Nature 
Authors: Jerry F. Tjiputra et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30159-0

Read the full article here.


Arctic deep-water anoxia and its potential role for ocean carbon sink during glacial periods

Abstract. 

"Deep water freshening beneath pan-Arctic ice shelves has recently been proposed based on the absence of excess thorium in glacial Arctic sediments. This profound proposal requires scrutiny of Arctic paleohydrology during past glacial periods. Here, we present structural and geochemical results of inorganic authigenic carbonates in deep-sea glacimarine sediments from the Mendeleev Ridge, western Arctic Ocean over the last 76 kyr. Our results suggest that Polar Deep Water in the western Arctic became brackish and anoxic during stadial periods. We argue that sediment-laden hyperpycnal meltwater discharged from paleo-ice sheets filled much of the water column [...]".

 

Source: Nature 
Authors: Kwangchul Jang et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00708-6

Read the full article here.


Calcium isotope ratios of malformed foraminifera reveal biocalcification stress preceded Oceanic Anoxic Event 2

Abstract. 

"Ocean acidification causes biocalcification stress. The calcium isotope composition of carbonate producers can archive such stress because calcium isotope fractionation is sensitive to precipitation rate. Here, we synthesize morphometric observations of planktic foraminifera with multi-archive calcium isotope records from Gubbio, Italy and the Western Interior Seaway spanning Cretaceous Ocean Anoxic Event 2 (~94 million years ago). Calcium isotope ratios increase ~60 thousand years prior to the event. [...]". 

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Gabriella D. Kitch et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00641-0

Read the full article here.


The Ocean's Biological Pump: In Situ Oxygen Measurements in the Subtropical Oceans

Abstract. 

"The magnitude and distribution of the ocean's biological pump (the downward flux of organic carbon (OC) from the ocean surface) influences the pCO2 of the atmosphere and the O2 content of the deep sea, but has not been well quantified. We determine this flux in the ocean's five subtropical gyres using upper-ocean oxygen mass balance and measurements of T, S, and pO2 by autonomous profiling floats. Our results suggest that the biological OC pump is not globally uniform among the subtropical gyres: values in the North Pacific and Atlantic indicate distinct autotrophy (1–2 mol C m−2 yr−1) while near zero values in the S. [...]".

 

Source: Geophysical Research Letters
Authors: Steven Emerson & Bo Yang
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099834

Read the full article here.


Intensive peatland wildfires during the Aptian–Albian oceanic anoxic event 1b: Evidence from borehole SK-2 in the Songliao Basin, NE China

Abstract. 

"The Cretaceous has been considered a “high-fire” world accompanied by widespread by-products of combustion in the rock record. The mid-Cretaceous oceanic anoxic event 1b (OAE1b) is marked by one of the major perturbations in the global carbon cycle characterized by deposition of organic-rich sediments in both marine and terrestrial settings. However, our understanding is still limited on changes in wildfire activity during OAE1b period. [...]".

 

Source: Science Direct 
Authors: Zhi-Hui Zhang et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jop.2022.06.002

Read the full article here.


Competing and accelerating effects of anthropogenic nutrient inputs on climate-driven changes in ocean carbon and oxygen cycles

Abstract. 

"Nutrient inputs from the atmosphere and rivers to the ocean are increased substantially by human activities. However, the effects of increased nutrient inputs are not included in the widely used CMIP5 Earth system models, which introduce bias into model simulations of ocean biogeochemistry. Here, using historical simulations by an Earth system model with perturbed atmospheric and riverine nutrient inputs, we show that the contribution of anthropogenic nutrient inputs to past global changes in ocean biogeochemistry is of similar magnitude to the effect of climate change. [...]". 

 

Source: Science Advances
Authors: Akitomo Yamamoto et al. 
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl9207

Read the full article here.


Reconstructing the Preindustrial Coastal Carbon Cycle Through a Global Ocean Circulation Model: Was the Global Continental Shelf Already Both Autotrop

Abstract.

"The contribution of continental shelves to the marine carbon cycle is still poorly understood. Their preindustrial state is, for one,                                                              essentially unknown, which strongly limits the quantitative assessment of their anthropogenic perturbation. To date, approaches developed to investigate and quantify carbon fluxes on continental shelves have strongly simplified their physical and biogeochemical features. In this study, we enhance the global ocean biogeochemistry model HAMburg Ocean Carbon Cycle by[...]"

 

Source: AGU- Advancing Earth and Space Science 
Authors: Fabrice Lacroix et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GB006603

Read the full article here.


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