Microbial biooceanography articles within Nature Geoscience

Featured

  • Article |

    Dust-borne nutrients can enhance productivity in the surface ocean. Two years of sediment trap data reveal that dust enhances carbon export to depth by increasing surface nitrogen fixation, productivity and carbon sinking rates in the North Atlantic.

    • Katsiaryna Pabortsava
    • , Richard S. Lampitt
    •  & E. Malcolm S. Woodward

  • Article |

    Zinc and silicon distributions co-vary in much of the global oceans. Observations and numerical modelling suggest that this co-variation can arise in the absence of mechanistic links between the uptake of zinc and silicate.

    • Derek Vance
    • , Susan H. Little
    •  & Rob Middag

  • News & Views |

    The dynamics of polar marine ecosystems are poorly understood. A laser-based space-borne sensor captures annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass in seasonally ice-free polar waters, and provides clues on how growth drives these cycles.

    • Marcel Babin

  • Letter |

    Chloride is abundant in oceans, but is relatively unreactive. Spectroscopic imaging reveals the presence of a chloride sink in organochlorine compounds that can be produced abiotically or by phytoplankton.

    • Alessandra C. Leri
    • , Lawrence M. Mayer
    •  & Austin B. Gellis

  • News & Views |

    Deep abyssal clay sediments in organic-poor regions of the ocean present challenging conditions for life. Techniques for identifying cells at extremely low concentrations demonstrate that aerobic microbes are found throughout these deep clays in as much of 37% of the global ocean.

    • Beth N. Orcutt

  • Commentary |

    Particles of organic matter in the ocean host diverse communities of microorganisms. These particles may serve as hotspots of bacterial gene exchange, creating opportunities for microbial evolution.

    • Frank J. Stewart

  • Review Article |

    The Arctic is warming faster than any other region in the world. The resultant large-scale shift in sea ice cover could increase oceanic emissions of dimethylsulphide, a climate-relevant trace gas generated by ice algae and phytoplankton.

    • M. Levasseur

  • Review Article |

    Coastal upwelling regimes associated with eastern boundary currents are the most biologically productive ecosystems in the ocean. A suite of human-induced changes could perturb primary production and nutrient cycling in these highly dynamic systems.

    • Douglas G. Capone
    •  & David A. Hutchins

  • Review Article |

    The leakage of cold, methane-rich fluids from subsurface reservoirs to the sea floor sustains some of the richest ecosystems on the sea bed. These cold-seep communities consume around two orders of magnitude more oxygen than the surrounding sea floor as a result of the microbial consumption of seep methane.

    • Antje Boetius
    •  & Frank Wenzhöfer

  • Review Article |

    The flux of carbon out of the ocean surface is not sufficient to meet the energy demands of microbes in the dark ocean. A review of the literature suggests that non-sinking particles and microbes that convert inorganic carbon into organic matter could help to meet this deep-ocean energy demand.

    • Gerhard J. Herndl
    •  & Thomas Reinthaler

  • Article |

    Mercury enters marine food webs in the form of microbially generated monomethylmercury. An analysis of the mercury isotopic composition of nine species of North Pacific fish suggests that microbial production of monomethylmercury below the surface mixed layer contributes significantly to the mercury contamination of marine food webs.

    • Joel D. Blum
    • , Brian N. Popp
    •  & Marcus W. Johnson

  • Letter |

    Submarine seeps release substantial amounts of methane into the overlying water column at continental margins, leading to the formation of calcium carbonate deposits. Analyses of methane-derived carbonate build-ups on the Nile Delta suggest that their formation coincided with the development of deep-water anoxic or suboxic conditions.

    • Germain Bayon
    • , Stéphanie Dupré
    •  & Gert J. de Lange

  • News & Views |

    The prediction of marine microbial responses to ocean acidification is a key challenge for marine biologists. Experimental evolution offers a powerful tool for understanding the forces that will shape tomorrow's microbial communities under global change.

    • Sinéad Collins

  • Letter |

    Biogenic aerosol particles of terrestrial origin, including bacteria and pollen, trigger ice formation in the atmosphere. Laboratory experiments reveal that biogenic particles of marine origin also initiate ice formation under typical tropospheric conditions.

    • D. A. Knopf
    • , P. A. Alpert
    •  & J. Y. Aller

  • Letter |

    Archaea are prevalent in the deep sea, and comprise a major fraction of the biomass in marine sediments. 13C-labelling experiments on the sea floor suggest that benthic archaea use sedimentary organic compounds to construct their membranes.

    • Yoshinori Takano
    • , Yoshito Chikaraishi
    •  & Naohiko Ohkouchi

Browse broader subjects

Browse Microbial biooceanography across other nature.com journals