Atmospheric nitrogen at the time when life evolved on Earth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Gebauer ◽  
John Lee Grenfell ◽  
Helmut Lammer ◽  
Jean-Pierre Paul de Vera ◽  
Laurenz Sproß ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Molecular Nitrogen ◽  
Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽  
Magma Ocean ◽  
Fixation Rate ◽  
Atmospheric Escape ◽  
Model Combining ◽  
Fundamental Quantity ◽  
Prebiotic Molecules

<p class="western" lang="en-US" align="justify"><span>The amount of nitrogen present in the atmosphere at the time when life evolved on <span lang="en-US">Earth</span> is central for understanding the production of prebiotic molecules and hence, is a fundamental quantity to constrain. However, estimates of atmospheric molecular nitrogen partial surface pressures (pN<sub>2</sub>) during the Archean widely vary in the literature. In this study, we apply a model combining newly-gained insights into atmospheric escape, magma ocean duration and outgassing evolution to derive pN<sub>2</sub> during the Hadean and Archean. Results suggest <420 millibar surface molecular nitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>) at the time when life originated, which is much lower compared to previous works, hence could impact the production rate of prebiotic molecules such as hydrogen cyanide. Our revised values provide new input for atmospheric chamber experiments simulating prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth. Our results assuming negligible nitrogen escape rates are in agreement with research based on solidified gas bubbles and the oxidation of iron in micrometeorites at 2.7 Gigayear ago suggesting that the atmospheric pressure was probably less than half the present-day value. Furthermore, our results contradict previous studies that assume N<sub>2</sub> partial surface pressures during the Archean higher than today and suggest that if the N<sub>2</sub> partial pressure were low in the Archean it w<span lang="en-US">ould</span> likely be low in the Hadean as well. <span lang="en-US">Additionally,</span> our results imply a biogenic nitrogen fixation rate from 9 to 14 Teragram N<sub>2 </sub>per year which is consistent with modern marine biofixation rates, hence <span lang="en-GB">indicate an oceanic origin of this fixation process.</span></span></p>

On the Fixation of Atmospheric Nitrogen by Phoma Radicis Callunae, including a New Method for Investigating Nitrogenfixation in Micro-Organisms

1928 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-189
Author(s):  
W. NEILSON JONES ◽  
M. LLEWELLYN SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Nitrogen Starvation ◽  
Molecular Nitrogen ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungus ◽  
Growth Period ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽  
Free Medium ◽  
New Apparatus ◽  
Micro Organisms

(1) Evidence from chemical analyses of seeds of Calluna mdgaris and of seedlings grown on a nitrogen-free medium confirms the view that this plant can obtain nitrogenous supplies from the air, probably in the form of molecular nitrogen, in sufficient amount to prevent the advent of any symptoms of nitrogen starvation. (2) A new apparatus for the investigation of nitrogen-fixation by micro-organisms is described. (3) Using the above apparatus, experiments on the mycorrhizal fungus of Calluna vulgaris are described in which this organism was grown in pure culture on a nitrogen-free medium with and without a supply of molecular nitrogen. The evidence obtained indicates that the amount of glucose used by the fungus during growth, and the amount of nitrogen contained in the culture at the end of the growth period are greater under the former condition. It is concluded that the fungus in question can utilise the molecular nitrogen of the air in some degree under the conditions of the experiments, although these were not the most favourable possible for nitrogen-fixation. It is considered that the results obtained justify an extension of these experiments using a strain of the fungus freshly extracted from the Calluna plant.

Electrical and spectral property of cold arc plasma at atmospheric pressure

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 617-620
Author(s):  
YUAN ZHONG-CAI ◽  
SHI JIA-MING ◽  
CHEN ZONG-SHENG ◽  
XU BO
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Arc Discharge ◽  
Rotational Temperature ◽  
Molecular Nitrogen ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma ◽  
Emission Spectra ◽  
Optical Emission ◽  
Plasma Jet ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Arc Plasma

AbstractAn atmospheric pressure plasma jet is generated with a cold arc discharge in ambient air. The current-voltage characteristics and optical emission spectra of plasma discharges are investigated. The molecular nitrogen (N2), hydroxyl radical (OH), and oxygen atom (O) are observed and analyzed. Based on the best fit of the simulated spectra of N2 (C3∏u+ − B3∏g+) band and OH (A2∑+ − X2∏) band transition and the experimentally recorded spectra, the rotational temperature and the vibrational temperature of atmospheric pressure cold arc plasma jet (APCAPJ) are estimated.

Electron‐impact dissociation of molecular nitrogen in atmospheric‐pressure nonthermal plasma reactors

1995 ◽  
Vol 67 (21) ◽  
pp. 3096-3098 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Penetrante ◽  
M. C. Hsiao ◽  
B. T. Merritt ◽  
G. E. Vogtlin ◽  
P. H. Wallman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Impact ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Molecular Nitrogen ◽  
Nonthermal Plasma ◽  
Plasma Reactors ◽  
Electron Impact Dissociation

The vaporization behavior of carbon and hydrogen from the early global magma ocean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Solomatova ◽  
Razvan Caracas
Keyword(s):  
First Principles ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Magma Ocean ◽  
Cooling History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Carbon Molecules ◽  
Dense Atmosphere

<p>Estimating the fluxes and speciation of volatiles during the existence of a global magma ocean is fundamental for understanding the cooling history of the early Earth and for quantifying the volatile budget of the present day. Using first-principles molecular dynamics, we predict the vaporization rate of carbon and hydrogen at the interface between the magma ocean and the hot dense atmosphere, just after the Moon-forming impact. The concentration of carbon and the oxidation state of the melts affect the speciation of the vaporized carbon molecules (e.g., the ratio of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide), but do not appear to affect the overall volatility of carbon. We find that carbon is rapidly devolatilized even under pressure, while hydrogen remains mostly dissolved in the melt during the devolatilization process of carbon. Thus, in the early stages of the global magma ocean, significantly more carbon than hydrogen would have been released into the atmosphere, and it is only after the atmospheric pressure decreased, that much of the hydrogen devolatilized from the melt. At temperatures of 5000 K (and above), we predict that bubbles in the magma ocean contained a significant fraction of silicate vapor, increasing with decreasing depths with the growth of the bubbles, affecting the transport and rheological properties of the magma ocean. As the temperature cooled, the silicate species condensed back into the magma ocean, leaving highly volatile atmophile species, such as CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O, as the dominant species in the atmosphere. Due to the greenhouse nature of CO<sub>2</sub>, its concentration in the atmosphere would have had a considerable effect on the cooling rate of the early Earth.</p>

Changes in the Technology of Soybean Production

2013 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Dozet Gordana ◽  
Cvijanovic Gorica ◽  
Djukic Vojin
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fertilization ◽  
Molecular Nitrogen ◽  
Soybean Seed ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Content Increase ◽  
Atmospheric Nitrogen ◽  
Biological Fixation ◽  
High Yields ◽  
Different Doses

Nitrogen is the key element of yield and the most limiting factor in achieving high yields. Nitrogen fertilization is specific because mineral nitrogen, the available form of nitrogen for the plant in the soil, is on one hand subject to leaching losses due to its mobility in the soil and denitrification, and on the other hand to the content increase due to mineralization of soil organic matter. To encourage more intensive adoption of atmospheric nitrogen in nitrogen-fixing, the presence of cobalt and molybdenum is necessary. Molybdenum is required for the binding of atmospheric nitrogen by Azotobacter and plays an important role in the fixation of N2. Legumes treated with molybdenum have a larger amount of fixed nitrogen. Cobalt is relevant to the process of biological fixation of molecular nitrogen. The role of cobalt in biological fixation of molecular nitrogen is specific, and it cannot be replaced in the process by other trace elements. Inoculation of soybean seed with microbiological fertilizer and seed treatment with cobalt and molybdenum, as well as the use of corn crop fertilization with different doses of nitrogen, has a different impact on the yield and properties of soybeans.

scholarly journals Meteor Storms as a Window on the Delivery of Extraterrestrial Organic Matter to the Early Earth

2004 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 281-288
Author(s):  
P. Jenniskens
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Rarefied Flow ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Prebiotic Molecules ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Recent Insight

The unique rarefied flow and flash heating in meteors creates physical conditions that can change exogenous organic matter into unique prebiotic molecules. with the exception of rare giant comet impacts, most infalling matter at the time of the origin of life was deposited in the atmosphere during the meteor phase. Much new data has been obtained from observations in the Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign; a series of NASA and USAF sponsored Astrobiology missions that explored the 1998–2002 Leonid meteor storms. Here, we provide an overview of some of this recent insight, which provides a framework in which the prebiotic chemistry can be studied.

Rapid Thermal Oxidation of Silicon in Mixtures of Oxygen and Nitrous Oxide

1996 ◽  
Vol 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Grant ◽  
Zia Karim
Keyword(s):  
Nitric Oxide ◽  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Oxidation Kinetics ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Oxidation Rate ◽  
Molecular Nitrogen ◽  
Intermediate Species ◽  
Pressure Oxidation ◽  
Decomposition Of Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Wall Furnace

AbstractOxidation in nitrous oxide by conventional hot wall furnace processing and by rapid thermnal oxidation (RTO) has been a subject of much interest in recent years. RTO is a fundamentally different process than furnace oxidation, however, and the full effects of this type of processing on the oxidation kinetics are not well understood. Oxidation of silicon by RTO at a variety of pressures, temperatures, and oxidation gas mixtures has been studied. Although at lower temperatures (<850°C) the atmospheric pressure oxidation rate in nitrous oxide is very close to that in oxygen, at higher temperatures the oxidation rate in nitrous oxide is much lower than that in oxygen. At lower pressures in a RTO process, the oxidation rate in nitrous oxide is higher than that in oxygen. The effect of the nitrogen incorporated in the oxide acting as a diffusion barrier has been proposed as the mechanism of temperature dependence for atmospheric pressure oxidation in nitrous oxide. This does not explain the effects seen at lower pressures, however. We propose that some of the intermediate species produced in the decomposition of nitrous oxide into molecular nitrogen, molecular oxygen, and nitric oxide play a role in the initial stages of oxidation by RTO in nitrous oxide.

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