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Spatial pattern of marine oxygenation set by tectonic and ecological drivers over the Phanerozoic

Abstract.

"Marine redox conditions (that is, oxygen levels) impact a wide array of biogeochemical cycles, but the main controls of marine redox since the start of the Phanerozoic about 538 million years ago are not well established. Here we combine supervised machine learning with shale-hosted trace metal concentrations to reconstruct a near-continuous record of redox conditions in major marine depositional settings. We find synchronously opposite redox changes in upper ocean versus deep shelf and (semi-)restricted basin settings ('redox anticouples', nomen novum) in several multi-million-year intervals, which can be used to track the positions of oxygen-minimum zones and the primary locations of organic burial through time. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Xiangli Wang et al. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01296-y

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Sulfate triple-oxygen-isotope evidence confirming oceanic oxygenation 570 million years ago

Abstract.

"The largest negative inorganic carbon isotope excursion in Earth’s history, namely the Ediacaran Shuram Excursion (SE), closely followed by early animal radiation, has been widely interpreted as a consequence of oceanic oxidation. However, the primary nature of the signature, source of oxidants, and tempo of the event remain contested. Here, we show that carbonate-associated sulfate (CAS) from three different paleocontinents all have conspicuous negative 17O anomalies (Δ′17OCAS values down to −0.53‰) during the SE. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Haiyang Wang et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39962-9

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Oxygen dynamics in marine productive ecosystems at ecologically relevant scales

Abstract.

"The decline of dissolved oxygen in the oceans could be detrimental to marine life and biogeochemical cycles. However, predicting future oxygen availability with models that mainly focus on temporal and spatial large-scale mean values could lead to incorrect predictions. Marine ecosystems are strongly influenced by short temporal- and small spatial-scale oxygen fluctuations. Large-scale modelling neglects fluctuations, which include the pervasive occurrence of high oxygen supersaturation on a daily time scale in productive ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests and the spatial heterogeneity in oxygen availability at microclimatic scales. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Folco Giomi et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01217-z

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.


Basin-scale reconstruction of euxinia and Late Devonian mass extinctions

Abstract. 

"The Devonian–Carboniferous transition marks a fundamental shift in the surface environment primarily related to changes in ocean–atmosphere oxidation states, resulting from the continued proliferation of vascular land plants that stimulated the hydrological cycle and continental weathering, glacioeustasy, eutrophication and anoxic expansion in epicontinental seas, and mass extinction events. Here we present a comprehensive spatial and temporal compilation of geochemical data from 90 cores across the entire Bakken Shale (Williston Basin, North America). [...]".

 

Source: Nature 
Authors: Swapan K. Sahoo et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05716-2

Read the full article here.


Recovery from microplastic-induced marine deoxygenation may take centuries

Abstract.

"Climate change and plastics pollution are dual threats to marine environments. Here we use biogeochemical and microplastic modelling to show that even if there is complete removal of microplastics and cessation of deposition in the oceans in 2022, regional recovery from microplastic-induced remineralization and water column deoxygenation could take hundreds of years for coastal upwelling zones, the North Pacific and Southern Ocean. [...]".

 

Source: Nature
Authors: Karin Kvale & Andreas Oschlies
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01096-w 

Read the full article here.


Ocean biogeochemical modelling

Abstract. 

"Ocean biogeochemical models describe the ocean’s circulation, physical properties, biogeochemical properties and their transformations using coupled differential equations. Numerically approximating these equations enables simulation of the dynamic evolution of the ocean state in realistic global or regional spatial domains, across time spans from years to centuries. This Primer explains the process of model construction and the main characteristics, advantages and drawbacks of different model types, from the simplest nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus model to the complex biogeochemical models used in Earth system modelling and climate prediction. [...]".

 

Source: Nature Reviews Methods Primers 
Authors: Katja Fennel et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-022-00154-2 

Read the full article here.


Isotopic evidence for changes in the mercury and zinc cycles during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 in the northwestern Tethys, Austria

Abstract. 

"The Cenomanian-Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2, ca. 94 Ma) was one of the most extreme carbon cycle and climatic perturbations of the Phanerozoic Eon. Widespread deposition of organic-rich shales during OAE 2 has been attributed to a rapid rise in atmospheric CO2, global heating, and marine anoxia triggered by intense large igneous province (LIP) volcanism. Here, we present new Hg and Zn elemental and isotopic analyses from samples spanning OAE 2 in a hemipelagic section from Rehkogelgraben, Austria, which was part of the north-western Tethys. [...]".

 

Source: Science Direct 
Authors: Hanwei Yao et al.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103881

Read the full article here.


Biotic induction and microbial ecological dynamics of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2

Abstract. 

"Understanding the causal mechanisms of past marine deoxygenation is critical to predicting the long-term Earth systems response to climate change. However, the processes and events preceding widespread carbon burial coincident with oceanic anoxic events remain poorly constrained. Here, we report a comprehensive biomarker inventory enveloping Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 that captures microbial communities spanning epipelagic to benthic environments in the southern proto-North Atlantic Ocean. We identify an abrupt, sustained increase in primary productivity that predates Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 by ∼220 ± 4 thousand years, well before other geochemical proxies register biogeochemical perturbations. [...]". 

 

Source: Communications Earth & Environment 
Authors: Gregory T. Connock et al. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00466-x 

Read the full article here.


Abundant nitrite-oxidizing metalloenzymes in the mesopelagic zone of the tropical Pacific Ocean

Abstract.

"Numerous biogeochemical reactions occur within the oceans’ major oxygen minimum zones, but less attention has been paid to the open ocean extremities of these zones. Here we report measurements on oxygen minimum zone waters from the Eastern to the Central Tropical North Pacific, which we analysed using metaproteomic techniques to discern the microbial functions present and their influence on biogeochemical cycling. [...]"

Source: Nature Geoscience
Authors: Mak A. Saito et al.
DOI: 10.1038/s41561-020-0565-6

Read the full article here.


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