scholarly journals Ideas and perspectives: Sea-Level Change, Anaerobic Methane Oxidation, and the Glacial-Interglacial Phosphorus Cycle

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjorn Sundby ◽  
Pierre Anschutz ◽  
Pascal Lecroart ◽  
Alfonso Mucci

Abstract. The oceanic phosphorus cycle describes how phosphorus moves through the ocean, accumulates with the sediments on the seafloor, and participates in biogeochemical reactions. We propose a new two-reservoir scenario of the glacial-interglacial phosphorus cycle. It relies on diagenesis in methane hydrate-bearing sediments to mobilize sedimentary phosphorus and transfer it to the oceanic reservoir during times when falling sea level lowers the hydrostatic pressure on the seafloor and destabilizes methane hydrates. The stock of solid phase phosphorus mobilizable by this process is of the same order of magnitude as the dissolved phosphate inventory of the current oceanic reservoir. The potential, additional flux of phosphate during the glacial period is of the same order of magnitude as pre-agricultural, riverine dissolved phosphate fluxes to the ocean. Throughout the cycle, primary production assimilates phosphorus and inorganic carbon into biomass which, upon settling and burial, returns phosphorus to the sedimentary reservoir. Primary production also lowers the partial pressure of CO2 in the surface ocean, potentially drawing down CO2 from the atmosphere. Concurrent with this slow ‘biological pump’, but operating in the opposite direction, a ’physical pump’ brings metabolic CO2-enriched waters from deep-ocean basins to the upper ocean. The two pumps compete, but the direction of the CO2 flux at the air-sea interface depends on the nutrient content of the deep waters. Because of the transfer of reactive phosphorus to the sedimentary reservoir throughout a glaciation cycle, low phosphorus/ high CO2 deep waters reign at the beginning of a deglaciation, resulting in rapid transfer of CO2 to the atmosphere. The new scenario provides another element to the suite of processes that may have contributed to the rapid glacial-interglacial climate transitions documented in paleo-records.

Ocean Science ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Scott ◽  
H. Kettle ◽  
C. J. Merchant

Abstract. The sensitivity of the biological parameters in a nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton-detritus (NPZD) model in the calculation of the air-sea CO2 flux, primary production and detrital export is analysed. We explore the effect on these outputs of variation in the values of the twenty parameters that control ocean ecosystem growth in a 1-D formulation of the UK Met Office HadOCC NPZD model used in GCMs. We use and compare the results from one-at-a-time and all-at-a-time perturbations performed at three sites in the EuroSITES European Ocean Observatory Network: the Central Irminger Sea (60° N 40° W), the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (49° N 16° W) and the European Station for Time series in the Ocean Canary Islands (29° N 15° W). Reasonable changes to the values of key parameters are shown to have a large effect on the calculation of the air-sea CO2 flux, primary production, and export of biological detritus to the deep ocean. Changes in the values of key parameters have a greater effect in more productive regions than in less productive areas. The most sensitive parameters are generally found to be those controlling well-established ocean ecosystem parameterisations widely used in many NPZD-type models. The air-sea CO2 flux is most influenced by variation in the parameters that control phytoplankton growth, detrital sinking and carbonate production by phytoplankton (the rain ratio). Primary production is most sensitive to the parameters that define the shape of the photosynthesis-irradiance curve. Export production is most sensitive to the parameters that control the rate of detrital sinking and the remineralisation of detritus.


1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Kaup ◽  
D. Haendel ◽  
R. Vaikmäe

Twelve saline lakes 5-35m above sea level in Bunger Hills (66°10'S, 101°00'E) were investigated from January to April in 1987-89. Some lakes may be relict and all were subject to wind-borne marine salts with present salinities between 3.4-79.0°/‰ and δ18O values mostly between -10 to -14%. Temperatures up to 17.7°C were measured at the bottom of Lake Polest where a sharp thermohalocline was observed during the period of open water. Mg2+ dominated over Ca2+ in all the lakes. Phosphates concentration was 3-10 μgP I-1 and total phosphorus 8-16 μgP I-1. The concentrations of nitrates and nitrites were often equal, ranging between 1-4 μgN I-1. Dissolved O2 was usually near saturation levels but peaked at more than 230% of saturation in the hypolimnion of Lake Polest as a result of temperature-enhanced photosynthesis with an assimilation rate of 23.9 mgC (mg Chl a)-1h-1. The values for chlorophyll a were 0.26-1.93 mg m-3 and for primary production 0.013-0.171 gCm-3d-1, the latter being an order of magnitude higher than in the fresh water lakes of the Bunger Hills.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1661-1670 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Stubbins ◽  
J. Niggemann ◽  
T. Dittmar

Abstract. Dissolved black carbon (DBC), defined here as condensed aromatics isolated from seawater via PPL solid phase extraction and quantified as benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCA) oxidation products, is a significant component of the oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool. These condensed aromatics are widely distributed in the open ocean and appear to be tens of thousands of years old. As such DBC is regarded as highly refractory. In the current study, the photo-lability of DBC, DOC and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM; ultraviolet-visible absorbance) were determined over the course of a 28 day irradiation of North Atlantic Deep Water under a solar simulator. During the irradiation DBC fell from 1044 ± 164 nM-C to 55 ± 15 nM-C, a 20-fold decrease in concentration. Dissolved black carbon photo-degradation was more rapid and more extensive than for bulk CDOM and DOC. The concentration of DBC correlated with CDOM absorbance and the quality of DBC indicated by the ratios of different BPCAs correlated with CDOM absorbance spectral slope, suggesting the optical properties of CDOM may provide a proxy for both DBC concentrations and quality in natural waters. Further, the photo-lability of components of the DBC pool increased with their degree of aromatic condensation. These trends indicate that a continuum of compounds of varying photo-lability exists within the marine DOC pool. In this continuum, photo-lability scales with aromatic character, specifically the degree of condensation. Scaling the rapid photo-degradation of DBC to rates of DOC photo-mineralisation for the global ocean leads to an estimated photo-chemical half-life for oceanic DBC of less than 800 years. This is more than an order of magnitude shorter than the apparent age of DBC in the ocean. Consequently, photo-degradation is posited as the primary sink for oceanic DBC and the apparent survival of DBC molecules in the oceans for millennia appears to be facilitated not by their inherent inertness but by the rate at which they are cycled through the surface ocean's photic zone.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Stubbins ◽  
J. Niggemann ◽  
T. Dittmar

Abstract. Dissolved black carbon (DBC), defined here as condensed aromatics isolated from seawater via PPL solid phase extraction and quantified as benzene polycarboxylic acid oxidation products, is a significant component of the oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pool. These condensed aromatics are widely distributed in the open ocean and appear to be tens of thousands of years old. As such DBC is regarded as highly refractory. In the current study, the photo-lability of DBC, DOC and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM; ultraviolet-visible absorbance) were determined over the course of a 28 d irradiation of North Atlantic Deep Water under a solar simulator. During the irradiation DBC fell from 1044 ± 164 nM C to 55 ± 15 nM C, a 20-fold decrease in concentration. Dissolved black carbon photo-degradation was more rapid and more extensive than for bulk CDOM and DOC. Further, the photo-lability of components of the DBC pool increased with their degree of aromatic condensation. These trends indicate that a continuum of compounds of varying photo-lability exists within the marine DOC pool. In this continuum, photo-lability scales with aromatic character, specifically the degree of condensation. Scaling the rapid photo-degradation of DBC to rates of DOC photo-mineralisation for the global ocean leads to an estimated photo-chemical half-life for oceanic DBC of less than 800 yr. This is more than an order of magnitude shorter than the apparent age of DBC in the ocean. Photo-degradation is therefore posited as the primary sink for oceanic DBC and the survival of DBC molecules in the oceans for millennia appears to be facilitated not by their inherent inertness but by the rate at which they are cycled through the surface ocean's photic zone.


1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abidelfatah M. Nasser ◽  
Yehudit Elkana ◽  
Leon Goldstein

This study was designed to develop a modification of A-ELISA performed in microtitre plates. Nylon filters have been utilized successfully as a solid phase for the performance of A-ELISA. The use of nylon filters resulted in lower background than nitro-cellulose and paper filters, indicating their suitability as a solid phase for developing A-ELISA. With enteric viruses, human rotaviruses and MS-2 coliphage, negative results were obtained, suggesting high specificity of the developed technique for poliovirus 1. The sensitivity of the developed A-ELISA has been shown to be at least one order of magnitude greater than ordinary ELISA. A positive result with the nylon A-ELISA can be obtained with samples containing 100-1000 pfu/ml of poliovirus. Up to date methods used for detecting viruses in water are elaborate, time consuming and costly. Applying the nylon A-ELISA may overcome some of these disadvantages.


1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1439-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslava Žertová ◽  
Jiřina Slaninová ◽  
Zdenko Procházka

An analysis of the uterotonic potencies of all analogs having substituted L- or D-tyrosine or -phenylalanine in position 2 and L-arginine, D-arginine or D-homoarginine in position 8 was made. The series of analogs already published was completed by the solid phase synthesis of ten new analogs having L- or D-Phe, L- or D-Phe(2-Et), L- or D-Phe(2,4,6-triMe) or D-Tyr(Me) in position 2 and either L- or D-arginine in position 8. All newly synthesized analogs were found to be uterotonic inhibitors. Deamination increases both the agonistic and antagonistic potency. In the case of phenylalanine analogs the change of configuration from L to D in position 2 enhances the uterotonic inhibition for more than 1 order of magnitude. The L to D change in position 8 enhances the inhibitory potency negligibly. Prolongation of the side chain of the D-basic amino acid in position 8 seems to decrease slightly the inhibitory potency if there is L-substituted amino acid in position 2. On the other hand there is a tendency to the increase of the inhibitory potency if there is D-substituted amino acid in position 2.


2014 ◽  
Vol 790-791 ◽  
pp. 97-102
Author(s):  
Zoltán Erdélyi ◽  
Zoltán Balogh ◽  
Gabor L. Katona ◽  
Dezső L. Beke

The critical nucleus size—above which nuclei grow, below dissolve—during diffusion controlled nucleation in binary solid-solid phase transformation process is calculated using kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC). If atomic jumps are slower in an A-rich nucleus than in the embedding B-rich matrix, the nucleus traps the A atoms approaching its surface. It doesn’t have enough time to eject A atoms before new ones arrive, even if it would be favourable thermodynamically. In this case the critical nucleus size can be even by an order of magnitude smaller than expected from equilibrium thermodynamics or without trapping. These results were published in [Z. Erdélyi et al., Acta Mater. 58 (2010) 5639]. In a recent paper M. Leitner [M. Leitner, Acta Mater. 60 (2012) 6709] has questioned our results based on the arguments that his simulations led to different results, but he could not point out the reason for the difference. In this paper we summarize our original results and on the basis of recent KMC and kinetic mean field (KMF) simulations we show that Leitner’s conclusions are not valid and we confirm again our original results.


Ocean Science ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. von Schuckmann ◽  
J.-B. Sallée ◽  
D. Chambers ◽  
P.-Y. Le Traon ◽  
C. Cabanes ◽  
...  

Abstract. Variations in the world's ocean heat storage and its associated volume changes are a key factor to gauge global warming and to assess the earth's energy and sea level budget. Estimating global ocean heat content (GOHC) and global steric sea level (GSSL) with temperature/salinity data from the Argo network reveals a positive change of 0.5 ± 0.1 W m−2 (applied to the surface area of the ocean) and 0.5 ± 0.1 mm year−1 during the years 2005 to 2012, averaged between 60° S and 60° N and the 10–1500 m depth layer. In this study, we present an intercomparison of three global ocean observing systems: the Argo network, satellite gravimetry from GRACE and satellite altimetry. Their consistency is investigated from an Argo perspective at global and regional scales during the period 2005–2010. Although we can close the recent global ocean sea level budget within uncertainties, sampling inconsistencies need to be corrected for an accurate global budget due to systematic biases in GOHC and GSSL in the Tropical Ocean. Our findings show that the area around the Tropical Asian Archipelago (TAA) is important to closing the global sea level budget on interannual to decadal timescales, pointing out that the steric estimate from Argo is biased low, as the current mapping methods are insufficient to recover the steric signal in the TAA region. Both the large regional variability and the uncertainties in the current observing system prevent us from extracting indirect information regarding deep-ocean changes. This emphasizes the importance of continuing sustained effort in measuring the deep ocean from ship platforms and by beginning a much needed automated deep-Argo network.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Goll ◽  
Nicolas Vuichard ◽  
Fabienne Maignan ◽  
Albert Jornet-Puig ◽  
Jordi Sardans ◽  
...  

Abstract. Land surface models rarely incorporate the terrestrial phosphorus cycle and its interactions with the carbon cycle, despite the extensive scientific debate about the importance of nitrogen and phosphorus supply for future land carbon uptake. We describe a representation of the terrestrial phosphorus cycle for the land surface model ORCHIDEE, and evaluate it with data from nutrient manipulation experiments along a soil formation chronosequence in Hawaii. ORCHIDEE accounts for influence of nutritional state of vegetation on tissue nutrient concentrations, photosynthesis, plant growth, biomass allocation, biochemical (phosphatase-mediated) mineralization and biological nitrogen fixation. Changes in nutrient content (quality) of litter affect the carbon use efficiency of decomposition and in return the nutrient availability to vegetation. The model explicitly accounts for root zone depletion of phosphorus as a function of root phosphorus uptake and phosphorus transport from soil to the root surface. The model captures the observed differences in the foliage stoichiometry of vegetation between an early (300yr) and a late stage (4.1 Myr) of soil development. The contrasting sensitivities of net primary productivity to the addition of either nitrogen, phosphorus or both among sites are in general reproduced by the model. As observed, the model simulates a preferential stimulation of leaf level productivity when nitrogen stress is alleviated, while leaf level productivity and leaf area index are stimulated equally when phosphorus stress is alleviated. The nutrient use efficiencies in the model are lower as observed primarily due to biases in the nutrient content and turnover of woody biomass. We conclude that ORCHIDEE is able to reproduce the shift from nitrogen to phosphorus limited net primary productivity along the soil development chronosequence, as well as the contrasting responses of net primary productivity to nutrient addition.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1131-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Möbius ◽  
N. Lahajnar ◽  
K.-C. Emeis

Abstract. The enhanced accumulation of organic matter in Eastern Mediterranean sapropels and their unusually depleted δ15N values have been attributed to either enhanced nutrient availability which led to elevated primary production and carbon sequestration or to enhanced organic matter preservation under anoxic conditions. In order to evaluate these two hypothesis we have determined Ba/Al ratios, amino acid composition, N and organic C concentrations and δ15N on sinking particles, surface sediments, eight spatially distributed core records of the youngest sapropel S1 (10-6 ka) and older sapropels (S5, S6) from two locations. These data suggest that (i) temporal and spatial variations in δ15N of sedimentary N are driven by different degrees of diagenesis at different sites rather than by changes in N-sources or primary productivity and (ii) that present day TOC export production would suffice to create a sapropel like S1 under conditions of deep-water anoxia. This implies that both enhanced TOC accumulation and δ15N depletion in sapropels were due to the absence of oxygen in deep waters. Thus preservation plays a major role for the accumulation of organic-rich sediments casting doubt the need of enhanced primary production for sapropel formation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document