Element cycles articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current global-scale nitrogen (N) budgets quantifying anthropogenic impacts on the N cycle do not explicitly consider nitrate storage in the vadose zone. Here, using estimates of depth to groundwater and nitrate leaching between 1900–2000, the authors show that the vadose zone is an important store of nitrate.

    • M. J. Ascott
    • , D. C. Gooddy
    •  & A. M. Binley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The question of how significant barite deposits were able to form from early Earth’s low-sulfate seas remains controversial. Here, the authors show pelagic barite precipitation within a strongly barite-undersaturated ecosystem, highlighting the importance of particle-associated microenvironments.

    • Tristan J. Horner
    • , Helena V. Pryer
    •  & Richard D. Ricketts

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Snowball Earth glaciations were some of the most extreme climate events in Earth history, and are temporally linked to major biogeochemical changes. Here, using geochemical proxies, the authors show that during the Marinoan glaciation, there was likely open water, active oxygen production, and nitrogen cycling.

    • Benjamin W. Johnson
    • , Simon W. Poulton
    •  & Colin Goldblatt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from agricultural sources is generally omitted from sulfur emission estimates despite its abundance in livestock emissions. Here, the authors show that agriculture is the most important source of sulfur in Denmark using proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry measurements of H2S.

    • Anders Feilberg
    • , Michael Jørgen Hansen
    •  & Tavs Nyord

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Significant challenges exist for structural characterization of enzymes responsible for biomineralization. Here the authors show that native mass spectrometry and high resolution electron microscopy can define the subunit topology and copper binding of a manganese oxidizing complex, and describe early stage formation of its mineral products

    • Christine A. Romano
    • , Mowei Zhou
    •  & Bradley M. Tebo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Ediacaran–Cambrian oxygenation of seawater is thought to have been caused by lifeforms engaging in ecosystem engineering. Here, the authors show that siliceous sponges increased seawater dissolved oxygen concentrations by redistributing organic carbon oxidation through filtering suspended organic matter.

    • Michael Tatzel
    • , Friedhelm von Blanckenburg
    •  & Dorothee Hippler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The evolution of oceanic redox state in the past is poorly known. Here, the authors present a temporal record of banded iron formations and marine red beds, which indicate deep-ocean oxygenation occurred in the middle Ediacaran, coinciding with the onset of widespread marine red beds.

    • Haijun Song
    • , Ganqing Jiang
    •  & Chengshan Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The impact of climate change on phosphorus (P) loss from land to water is unclear. Here, the authors use P flux data, climate simulations and P transfer models to show that only large scale agricultural change will limit the effect of climate change on average winter P loads in three catchments across the UK.

    • M. C. Ockenden
    • , M. J. Hollaway
    •  & P. M. Haygarth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes’ ecosystems compared to historical records are unclear. Here, using paleolimnological evidence, the authors show that Lake Superior experienced a slow increase in productivity throughout the Holocene, but that this rate has increased in the last century.

    • M. D. O’Beirne
    • , J. P. Werne
    •  & E. D. Reavie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While the global silica cycle is known to play an important role in long-term climate change, the driving factors remain unknown. Here, the authors present a ∼70 million year long record of early Mesozoic biogenic silica and propose orbitally-paced chemical weathering as a primary driver.

    • Masayuki Ikeda
    • , Ryuji Tada
    •  & Kazumi Ozaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crystalline uraninite is believed to be the dominant form in uranium deposits. Here, the authors find that non-crystalline U(IV) generated through biologically mediated U(VI) reduction is the predominant U(IV)species in ore deposits, implying that biogenic processes are more important than previously thought.

    • Amrita Bhattacharyya
    • , Kate M. Campbell
    •  & Thomas Borch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The influence iron exerts over the acquisition of dissolved organic phosphorus in regions of the oceans co-limited by nitrogen and phosphorus is poorly constrained. Here, the authors demonstrate enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity of natural marine microbial communities following iron fertilization.

    • T. J. Browning
    • , E. P. Achterberg
    •  & C. M. Moore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dust is an important nutrient source to landscapes, but often the source of dust is poorly constrained. Here, the authors quantify the origin of different dust sources in the Sierra Nevada by analysing dust composition and suggest exogenic dust may drive nutrient budgets in montane ecosystems.

    • S. M. Aciego
    • , C. S. Riebe
    •  & E. L. Aronson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fossil microorganisms older than 1.7 billion years are challenging to interpret due to their size, simple shapes, and alteration. Here, in 1.88 billion year old microfossils, the authors show a pattern of cellular preservation and internal iron nanominerals consistent with oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria.

    • Kevin Lepot
    • , Ahmed Addad
    •  & Emmanuelle J. Javaux

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sea-ice plays a key role in regulating nutrient dynamics and primary productivity along the Antarctica Peninsula margin. Here, the authors show that over the last 13 kyr nutrient dynamics have also been regulated by glacial discharge, highlighting the potential for future changes as glaciers continue to melt.

    • George E. A. Swann
    • , Jennifer Pike
    •  & Andrea M. Snelling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glacially-derived iron fertilizes the Southern Ocean ecosystem, but the quantities transported by runoff from Antarctica are unknown. Here, the authors show significant fluxes associated with surface meltwater runoff, and demonstrate that a marked increase in export can be expected in response to climate warming.

    • Andy Hodson
    • , Aga Nowak
    •  & Gonçalo Vieira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear why atmospheric O2 remained at low levels for >1.5 billion years following the Great Oxidation Event. Here, the authors show that tectonic recycling of previously accumulated sedimentary organic carbon, and oxygen sensitivity of its oxidative weathering stabilized O2at ∼1–10% of present levels.

    • Stuart J. Daines
    • , Benjamin J. W. Mills
    •  & Timothy M. Lenton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glacial runoff often has relatively low dissolved silica concentrations and therefore ice sheets have been thought insignificant in the global silicon cycle. Here, the authors show that ice sheets likely play an important role in the production and export of dissolved and dissolvable amorphous silica downstream.

    • Jon R. Hawkings
    • , Jemma L. Wadham
    •  & Rob Raiswell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the production processes behind oceanic sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, is of critical importance. Here, the authors reveal an archaeal-mediated N2O production pathway in the North Pacific, which increases exponentially with decreasing oxygen.

    • Mark Trimmer
    • , Panagiota-Myrsini Chronopoulou
    •  & Kevin J. Purdy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precambrian rocks host a deep hydrosphere, but where dissolved sulfate, crucial for microbial life, comes from is unclear. At 2.4 km depth in the Canadian shield, Li et al. find that oxidation of sulfides in the host rocks creates sulfate thus providing a long-term mechanism for the deep biosphere sulfate.

    • L. Li
    • , B. A. Wing
    •  & B. Sherwood Lollar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anthropogenic lead (Pb) has overwhelmed natural Pb sources for over a century, yet the phasing out of leaded petrol in the early 2000s has renewed hope. Here, Bridgestock et al. use Pd isotopes to reassess the origins of Pd deposited in the tropical North Atlantic and reveal a significant natural source.

    • Luke Bridgestock
    • , Tina van de Flierdt
    •  & Hein J. W. de Baar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic materials mineralized with sulfur are considered to be a product of biological activity in natural environments and the fossil record. Here, Cosmidis and Templeton show that sulfide can abiotically drive the self-assembly of organic carbon microstructures mineralized with elemental sulfur.

    • Julie Cosmidis
    •  & Alexis S. Templeton

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