Marine chemistry articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  23 February 2016 | Open Access

  The exposure of the Great Barrier Reef to ocean acidification

  As the oceans become acidic, corals reefs are threatened, generating a need to understand the driving forces controlling the chemical state of the Great Barrier Reef. Here, the authors show a greater spatial variability than previously reported, created by the interaction of reef processes and ocean circulation.

  • Mathieu Mongin
  • , Mark E. Baird
  •  & Andrew D. L. Steven

• Article
  11 November 2014 | Open Access

  Eruption of a deep-sea mud volcano triggers rapid sediment movement

  Submarine mud volcanoes are difficult to observe from the sea surface and previous recordings at depth have been short term. Here, the authors provide the first long-term monitoring from Håkon Mosby and suggest that mud volcanoes may be more important to the global methane budget than previously thought.

  • Tomas Feseker
  • , Antje Boetius
  •  & Dirk de Beer

• Article | 12 June 2014

  Silicate deposition during decomposition of cyanobacteria may promote export of picophytoplankton to the deep ocean

  The contribution of picophytoplankton to particle transport in the marine environment is relatively unknown. Here, the authors perform incubation experiments and show that decomposing picophytoplankton provides an efficient transport pathway for silica-enriched marine particles.

  • Tiantian Tang
  • , Kim Kisslinger
  •  & Cindy Lee

• Article
  22 May 2014 | Open Access

  Direct contribution of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum to lime mud production

  Seagrass beds are effective blue-carbon sinks, yet their role as a lime mud source in the tropical carbonate factory is less well known. Here, the authors demonstrate that the species Thalassia testudinumcan significantly contribute to carbonate production via the precipitation of aragonite needles.

  • Susana Enríquez
  •  & Nadine Schubert

• Article
  21 May 2014 | Open Access

  Ice sheets as a significant source of highly reactive nanoparticulate iron to the oceans

  Glacial meltwaters may help fertilize the iron-limited Polar Oceans, yet the contribution is poorly constrained. Hawkings et al.monitor iron fluxes during a full-melt season in Greenland, and propose that ice sheets provide highly reactive and potentially bioavailable iron, comparable with aeolian dust fluxes.

  • Jon R. Hawkings
  • , Jemma L. Wadham
  •  & Jon Telling

• Article | 27 September 2013

  Oxygen consumption rates in subseafloor basaltic crust derived from a reaction transport model

  Deep oceanic crust could host a wealth of microbial life, but biogeochemical reactions therein are poorly understood. Orcutt et al.combine measurements of sedimentary oxygen and pore water chemistry from basement crust with a reactive transport box model to shed light on oxygen consumption in basaltic crust.

  • Beth N. Orcutt
  • , C. Geoffrey Wheat
  •  & Wolfgang Bach

• Article
  19 July 2013 | Open Access

  Distinct iron isotopic signatures and supply from marine sediment dissolution

  The dissolution of iron from sediments along ocean margins may stimulate photosynthesis and moderate global climate. This study shows how margin sediments supply iron in varying amounts between regions, and by distinct mechanisms, which may be due to geological characteristics and hydrological controls on land.

  • William B. Homoky
  • , Seth G. John
  •  & Rachel A. Mills

• Article | 10 June 2013

  Role of biogenic silica in the removal of iron from the Antarctic seas

  Iron plays a key role in controlling biological production in the Southern Ocean, yet mechanisms regulating iron availability are not completely understood. Here, Ingall et al.show that structural incorporation of reduced, organic iron into biogenic silica represents a new and substantial removal pathway.

  • Ellery D. Ingall
  • , Julia M. Diaz
  •  & Jay A. Brandes

• Article
  22 January 2013 | Open Access

  High heat flow and ocean acidification at a nascent rift in the northern Gulf of California

  Active seafloor spreading has been documented in some of the tectonically active basins of the Gulf of California. This work presents new geophysical and geochemical data as evidence that active seafloor spreading is also occurring in the northernmost Wagner and Consag basins of the Gulf.

  • Rosa Ma Prol-Ledesma
  • , Marco-Antonio Torres-Vera
  •  & Carlos Robinson