Heterogeneity in the Ediacaran–Cambrian coastal oceans: a sulphur isotope perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 157 (7) ◽  
pp. 1112-1120
Author(s):  
Ying Lin ◽  
Nanping Wu ◽  
Da Li ◽  
Hong-Fei Ling
Keyword(s):  
Global Scale ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Sulphur Isotope ◽  
Coastal Oceans ◽  
First Order ◽  
Sulphur Cycle ◽  
Sulphur Cycling ◽  
Cas A ◽  
Depositional Setting

AbstractMultiple sulphur isotope compositions of sedimentary pyrites across the Ediacaran–Cambrian (Ed–C) transition and into the early Cambrian from the Xiaotan section, Yunnan, South China, are presented to explore the evolution of the sulphur cycle. The values of δ34Spy range from 13.5 ‰ to 35.8 ‰, and the values of Δ33Spy range from −0.044 ‰ to 0.063 ‰. The first-order observation of highly positive δ34Spy is consistent with sulphur isotope records from other sedimentary successions (with various degrees of enrichment in 34S), reflecting a common feature in cycling of sulphur among ocean basins. The positive values suggest that pyrite was formed in a depositional setting with limiting availability of sulphate that suppressed the expression of microbial fractionations. The first-order observation of a 10-million-year period of negative Δ33Spy beginning around the Ed–C boundary likely reflects changes in isotopic compositions of sulphur influx to the oceans. Such changes are suggested to be linked to a pulse of preferred weathering of sulphides (with negative Δ33S) relative to sulphate, which may reflect enhanced exposure of pyrites in continental margins due to reorganization of continents at this time. Both δ34Spy and Δ33Spy data imply low seawater sulphate levels, and possibly heterogeneity in sulphate concentrations in the world’s coastal oceans. The predictions about sulphur isotope signatures of evolved seawater (with highly positive δ34S and negative Δ33S) at the Xiaotan section are testable with future measurements of carbonate-associated sulphate (CAS), a proxy of ancient oceanic sulphate that carries information about the operation of sulphur cycling on a global scale.

scholarly journals Towards a representation of priming on soil carbon decomposition in the global land biosphere model ORCHIDEE (version 1.9.5.2)

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 841-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertrand Guenet ◽  
Fernando Esteban Moyano ◽  
Philippe Peylin ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Ivan A Janssens
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Soil Incubation ◽  
First Order ◽  
Carbon Decomposition ◽  
Litter Manipulation ◽  
Global Land ◽  
Biosphere Model

Abstract. Priming of soil carbon decomposition encompasses different processes through which the decomposition of native (already present) soil organic matter is amplified through the addition of new organic matter, with new inputs typically being more labile than the native soil organic matter. Evidence for priming comes from laboratory and field experiments, but to date there is no estimate of its impact at global scale and under the current anthropogenic perturbation of the carbon cycle. Current soil carbon decomposition models do not include priming mechanisms, thereby introducing uncertainty when extrapolating short-term local observations to ecosystem and regional to global scale. In this study we present a simple conceptual model of decomposition priming, called PRIM, able to reproduce laboratory (incubation) and field (litter manipulation) priming experiments. Parameters for this model were first optimized against data from 20 soil incubation experiments using a Bayesian framework. The optimized parameter values were evaluated against another set of soil incubation data independent from the ones used for calibration and the PRIM model reproduced the soil incubations data better than the original, CENTURY-type soil decomposition model, whose decomposition equations are based only on first-order kinetics. We then compared the PRIM model and the standard first-order decay model incorporated into the global land biosphere model ORCHIDEE (Organising Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems). A test of both models was performed at ecosystem scale using litter manipulation experiments from five sites. Although both versions were equally able to reproduce observed decay rates of litter, only ORCHIDEE–PRIM could simulate the observed priming (R2  =  0.54) in cases where litter was added or removed. This result suggests that a conceptually simple and numerically tractable representation of priming adapted to global models is able to capture the sign and magnitude of the priming of litter and soil organic matter.

scholarly journals A new mechanistic framework to predict OCS fluxes from soils

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2221-2240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Ogée ◽  
Joana Sauze ◽  
Jürgen Kesselmeier ◽  
Bernard Genty ◽  
Heidi Van Diest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Soil Microorganisms ◽  
Soil Moisture Content ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Carbonyl Sulfide ◽  
Reaction Diffusion ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
First Order ◽  
Uptake Rates ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

Abstract. Estimates of photosynthetic and respiratory fluxes at large scales are needed to improve our predictions of the current and future global CO2 cycle. Carbonyl sulfide (OCS) is the most abundant sulfur gas in the atmosphere and has been proposed as a new tracer of photosynthetic gross primary productivity (GPP), as the uptake of OCS from the atmosphere is dominated by the activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA), an enzyme abundant in leaves that also catalyses CO2 hydration during photosynthesis. However soils also exchange OCS with the atmosphere, which complicates the retrieval of GPP from atmospheric budgets. Indeed soils can take up large amounts of OCS from the atmosphere as soil microorganisms also contain CA, and OCS emissions from soils have been reported in agricultural fields or anoxic soils. To date no mechanistic framework exists to describe this exchange of OCS between soils and the atmosphere, but empirical results, once upscaled to the global scale, indicate that OCS consumption by soils dominates OCS emission and its contribution to the atmospheric budget is large, at about one third of the OCS uptake by vegetation, also with a large uncertainty. Here, we propose a new mechanistic model of the exchange of OCS between soils and the atmosphere that builds on our knowledge of soil CA activity from CO2 oxygen isotopes. In this model the OCS soil budget is described by a first-order reaction–diffusion–production equation, assuming that the hydrolysis of OCS by CA is total and irreversible. Using this model we are able to explain the observed presence of an optimum temperature for soil OCS uptake and show how this optimum can shift to cooler temperatures in the presence of soil OCS emission. Our model can also explain the observed optimum with soil moisture content previously described in the literature as a result of diffusional constraints on OCS hydrolysis. These diffusional constraints are also responsible for the response of OCS uptake to soil weight and depth observed previously. In order to simulate the exact OCS uptake rates and patterns observed on several soils collected from a range of biomes, different CA activities had to be invoked in each soil type, coherent with expected physiological levels of CA in soil microbes and with CA activities derived from CO2 isotope exchange measurements, given the differences in affinity of CA for both trace gases. Our model can be used to help upscale laboratory measurements to the plot or the region. Several suggestions are given for future experiments in order to test the model further and allow a better constraint on the large-scale OCS fluxes from both oxic and anoxic soils.

Sulphur isotope fractionation in modern microbial mats and the evolution of the sulphur cycle

Nature ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 382 (6589) ◽  
pp. 342-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten S. Habicht ◽  
Donald E. Canfield
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Sulphur Isotope ◽  
Sulphur Cycle

scholarly journals Towards a representation of priming on soil carbon decomposition in the global land biosphere model ORCHIDEE (version 1.9.5.2)

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 9193-9227
Author(s):  
B. Guenet ◽  
F. E. Moyano ◽  
P. Peylin ◽  
P. Ciais ◽  
I. A. Janssens
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Soil Incubation ◽  
First Order ◽  
Carbon Decomposition ◽  
Litter Manipulation ◽  
Global Land ◽  
Biosphere Model

Abstract. Priming of soil carbon decomposition encompasses different processes through which the decomposition of native (already present) soil organic matter is amplified through the addition of new organic matter, with new inputs typically being more labile than the native soil organic matter. Evidence for priming comes from laboratory and field experiments, but to date there is no estimate of its impact at global scale and under the current anthropogenic perturbation of the carbon cycle. Current soil carbon decomposition models do not include priming mechanisms, thereby introducing uncertainty when extrapolating short-term local observations to ecosystem and regional to global scale. In this study we present a simple conceptual model of decomposition priming, called PRIM, able to reproduce laboratory (incubation) and field (litter manipulation) priming experiments. Parameters for this model were first optimized against data from 20 soil incubation experiments using a Bayesian framework. The optimized parameter values were evaluated against another set of soil incubation data independent from the ones used for calibration and the PRIM model reproduced the soil incubations data better than the original, CENTURY-type soil decomposition model, whose decomposition equations are based only on first order kinetics. We then compared the PRIM model and the standard first order decay model incorporated into the global land biosphere model ORCHIDEE. A test of both models was performed at ecosystem scale using litter manipulation experiments from 5 sites. Although both versions were equally able to reproduce observed decay rates of litter, only ORCHIDEE-PRIM could simulate the observed priming (R2 = 0.54) in cases where litter was added or removed. This result suggests that a conceptually simple and numerically tractable representation of priming adapted to global models is able to capture the sign and magnitude of the priming of litter and soil organic matter.

Marine Ecological State-Shifts Following the Triassic–Jurassic Mass Extinction

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 121-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen A. Ritterbush ◽  
Yadira Ibarra ◽  
David J. Bottjer ◽  
Frank A. Corsetti ◽  
Silvia Rosas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Marine Ecology ◽  
First Order ◽  
Depositional Settings ◽  
Geophysical Processes ◽  
Carbonate Ramps ◽  
Extinction Events

One of the most severe extinction events in Earth history, the Triassic–Jurassic extinction, struck against a backdrop of radical increases in atmospheric CO2and supercontinent breakup. This juxtaposition of first-order geophysical and biotic changes produced excellent case studies in Earth-Life Transitions. Recent recognition of a worldwide “carbonate gap” following the extinction has focused attention on causes, often invoked as eustacy or ocean acidification, but the ecology of the extinction aftermath remains poorly understood. Results from paleoecological studies on three separate Triassic–Jurassic records are presented and incorporated into regional depositional models. Examination of the Penarth Group of Great Britain reveals a widespread, laterally homogenous, level-bottom microbial stromatolite regime across the innermost ramp. The Sunrise Formation in Nevada, USA, was deposited during a biosiliceous (“glass”) regime dominated by demosponges across the inner ramp that lasted at least two million years. Investigations of the Pucará group in the central Andes of Peru revealed a demosponge-dominated level-bottom glass ramp with many similarities to the Nevada deposits, but offering broader regional extent and variation in recorded depositional settings. This suite of studies demonstrates state-shifts in marine ecological systems that also profoundly altered regional sedimentation regimes. The sponge-dominated systems produced glass ramp conditions instead of carbonate ramps, and indicate the importance of marine silica concentrations. The post-extinction changes in regional marine ecology demonstrate connectivity to changes in global climate and terrigenous weathering driven by global-scale geophysical processes.

scholarly journals First-order estimate of the planktic foraminifer biomass in the modern global oceans

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-280
Author(s):  
R. Schiebel ◽  
A. Movellan
Keyword(s):  
Water Depth ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Order Estimate ◽  
Minimum Diameter ◽  
First Order ◽  
The North ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Standing Stocks

Abstract. Planktic foraminifera are heterotrophic mesozooplankton of global marine abundance. The position of planktic foraminifers in the marine food web is different compared to other protozoans and ranges above the base of heterotrophic consumers. Being secondary producers with an omnivorous diet, which ranges from algae to small metazoans, planktic foraminifers are not limited to a single food source, and are assumed to occur at a balanced abundance displaying the overall marine biological productivity at a regional scale. We have calculated the assemblage carbon biomass from data on standing stocks between the sea surface and 2500 m water depth, based on 754 protein-biomass data of 21 planktic foraminifer species and morphotypes, produced with a newly developed method to analyze the protein biomass of single planktic foraminifer specimens. Samples include symbiont bearing and symbiont barren species, characteristic of surface and deep-water habitats. Conversion factors between individual protein-biomass and assemblage-biomass are calculated for test sizes between 72 and 845 μm (minimum diameter). The calculated assemblage biomass data presented here include 1057 sites and water depth intervals. Although the regional coverage of database is limited to the North Atlantic, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and Caribbean, our data include a wide range of oligotrophic to eutrophic waters covering six orders of magnitude of assemblage biomass. A first order estimate of the global planktic foraminifer biomass from average standing stocks (>125 μm) ranges at 8.5–32.7 Tg C yr−1 (i.e. 0.008–0.033 Gt C yr−1), and might be more than three time as high including the entire fauna including neanic and juvenile individuals adding up to 25–100 Tg C yr−1. However, this is a first estimate of regional planktic-foraminifer assemblage-biomass (PFAB) extrapolated to the global scale, and future estimates based on larger data-sets might considerably deviate from the one presented here. This paper is supported by, and a contribution to the Marine Ecosystem Data project (MAREDAT). Data are available from www.pangaea.de (http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.777386).

scholarly journals A new mechanistic framework to predict OCS fluxes from soils

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 15687-15736 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ogée ◽  
J. Sauze ◽  
J. Kesselmeier ◽  
B. Genty ◽  
H. Van Diest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Soil Microorganisms ◽  
Soil Moisture Content ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Reaction Diffusion ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
First Order ◽  
Uptake Rates ◽  
Carbonyl Sulphide ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

Abstract. Estimates of photosynthetic and respiratory fluxes at large scales is needed to improve our predictions of the current and future global CO2 cycle. Carbonyl sulphide (OCS) is the most abundant sulphur gas in the atmosphere and has been proposed as a new tracer of photosynthesis (GPP), as the uptake of OCS from the atmosphere is dominated by the activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA), an enzyme abundant in leaves that also catalyses CO2 hydration during photosynthesis. But soils also exchange OCS with the atmosphere which complicates the retrieval of GPP from atmospheric budgets. Indeed soils can take up large amounts of OCS from the atmosphere as soil microorganisms also contain CA, and OCS emissions from soils have been reported in agricultural fields or anoxic soils. To date no mechanistic framework exists to describe this exchange of OCS between soils and the atmosphere but empirical results, once upscaled to the global scale, indicate that OCS consumption by soils dominates over production and its contribution to the atmospheric budget is large, at about one third of the OCS uptake by vegetation, with also a large uncertainty. Here, we propose a new mechanistic model of the exchange of OCS between soils and the atmosphere that builds on our knowledge of soil CA activity from CO2 oxygen isotopes. In this model the OCS soil budget is described by a first-order reaction-diffusion-production equation, assuming that the hydrolysis of OCS by CA is total and irreversible. Using this model we are able to explain the observed presence of an optimum temperature for soil OCS uptake and show how this optimum can shift to cooler temperatures in the presence of soil OCS emissions. Our model can also explain the observed optimum with soil moisture content previously described in the literature as a result of diffusional constraints on OCS hydrolysis. These diffusional constraints are also responsible for the response of OCS uptake to soil weight and depth observed previously. In order to simulate the exact OCS uptake rates and patterns observed on several soils collected from a range of biomes, different CA activities had to be evoked in each soil type, coherent with expected physiological levels of CA in soil microbes and with CA activities derived from CO2 isotope exchange measurements, given the differences in affinity of CA for both trace gases. Our model can also be used to help upscale laboratory measurements to the plot or the region. Several suggestions are given for future experiments in order to test the model further and allow a better constraint on the large-scale OCS fluxes from both oxic and anoxic soils.

scholarly journals THINKING ABOUT THINKING: START-UP FOR MODERN EDUCATION FOR TOMORROW

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-95
Author(s):  
Andris Broks
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
First Order ◽  
Modern Education ◽  
Order Task ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Special Value ◽  
Quantitative Changes ◽  
Human Nervous System

Today it is a period of time when serious changes all around us and within us have started. Today we meet not only local small quantitative changes – reforms, there are also some big changes – transformations are coming up. Started in the 16-th century, revolution of Science and Technologies has introduced today new global scale impact on our life - social sciences as well as humanities have started to play a much more important role within sustainable development of our life and education for tomorrow. Thinking as spiritual process – brainwork within human nervous system is managing humans’ particular life activities as well as human’s life as a whole. Thinking about thinking today is becoming start-up activity within the development of our life and education tomorrow. Using other words, conscious systems thinking today is becoming of very special value when solving our actual and complex life and education problems. It means that deeper or higher understanding and comprehension of humans’ private and society’s public spiritual life is becoming our first order task.

Micro-scale sulphur isotope evidence for sulphur cycling in the late Archean shallow ocean

Geobiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
pp. 061221060249002-??? ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. KAMBER ◽  
M. J. WHITEHOUSE
Keyword(s):  
Sulphur Isotope ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
Sulphur Cycling ◽  
Isotope Evidence
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