Marine chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The geographical distribution and controlling factors of marine N2 fixation are understudied. Here the authors find increasing rates of N2 fixation from the Sargasso Sea to the coastal waters of North America, driven primarily by cyanobacterial diazotrophs and best correlated with phosphorus availability and chlorophyll-a concentrations.

    • Weiyi Tang
    • , Seaver Wang
    •  & Nicolas Cassar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferromanganese minerals are abundant in marine environments but the extent of these minerals in subseafloor sediments remains unknown. Here the authors find abundant ferromanganese microparticles in oxic pelagic clays, accounting for 14–16% of the new estimate of the global manganese budget (9.2–47.4 Tt).

    • Go-Ichiro Uramoto
    • , Yuki Morono
    •  & Fumio Inagaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The rare noble gas isotope 39Ar is the ideal tracer to investigate the ventilation of the deep ocean in the time range of 50 to 1000 years. Here the authors constrain transit time distributions in the eastern Tropical Atlantic with 39Ar-measurements done on a sample size of 5 L of water utilising modern atom-optical techniques.

    • Sven Ebser
    • , Arne Kersting
    •  & Markus K. Oberthaler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Indian Ocean provides a unique environmental gradient to test underlying drivers of the elemental composition of particulate organic matter. Here the authors show that nutrient supply, over temperature and biodiversity changes, controls regional variation of elemental ratios in the tropical Indian Ocean.

    • Catherine A. Garcia
    • , Steven E. Baer
    •  & Adam C. Martiny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role ice sheets play in the silica cycle over glacial−interglacial timescales remains unclear. Here, based on the measurement of silica isotopes in Greenland meltwater and a nearby marine sediment core, the authors suggest expanding ice sheets considerably increased isotopically light silica in the oceans.

    • Jon R. Hawkings
    • , Jade E. Hatton
    •  & Martyn Tranter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in aquatic systems is among the most complex molecular mixtures known. Here the authors show that a major component in DOM is molecularly indistinguishable in marine and freshwater environments, which could reflect universal mechanisms behind long-term DOM turnover.

    • Maren Zark
    •  & Thorsten Dittmar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The termination of the Marinoan snowball Earth event marks one of the most drastic transitions in Earth history, but the oceanic response remains unclear. Here, the authors’ integrated analysis demonstrates that the ocean experienced transient but widespread euxinia following this Snowball Earth event.

    • Xianguo Lang
    • , Bing Shen
    •  & Haoran Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The exact timing and magnitude of past changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation, and its relation to abrupt climate changes remains elusive. Here, the authors show a spatially coherent picture of western Atlantic circulation changes, which reveals a two-step AMOC slowdown at the beginning of the deglacial period.

    • Hong Chin Ng
    • , Laura F. Robinson
    •  & Tianyu Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extent to which the onset of bioturbation affected global biogeochemistry during the Palaeozoic remains unclear. Here, the authors integrate bioturbation into the COPSE model, compare output with geochemical proxies, and suggest shallow burrowing contributed to a global low oxygen state during the early Cambrian.

    • Sebastiaan van de Velde
    • , Benjamin J. W. Mills
    •  & Simon W. Poulton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The West Antarctic Ice Sheet sits atop an extensional rift system with volcano-like features, yet we do not know if any of these volcanoes are active, because identifying subglacial volcanism remains a challenge. Here, the authors find evidence in helium isotopes that a large volcanic heat source is emanating from beneath the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Glacier.

    • Brice Loose
    • , Alberto C. Naveira Garabato
    •  & Karen J. Heywood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the broad use of barium as a proxy for past ocean export production, the underlying mechanisms of barite precipitation remain unknown. Here, the authors show, under experimental conditions, that barium bioaccumulation on bacterially produced biofilms is the crucial step for barite formation.

    • Francisca Martinez-Ruiz
    • , Fadwa Jroundi
    •  & María Teresa González-Muñoz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The impact of plastic debris floating at the sea surface on the lowest trophic levels of the food web remains unknown. Here, using leaching experiments, the authors show that plastics release dissolved organic carbon into the ambient seawater that is rapidly taken up by marine microbes stimulating their growth.

    • Cristina Romera-Castillo
    • , Maria Pinto
    •  & Gerhard J. Herndl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding controls on past nitrogen budgets can improve predictions for future global biogeochemical cycling. Here, using foraminiferal pore density and δ13C, the authors present a quantitative record of deglacial nitrate from the intermediate Pacific and infer close coupling between carbon and nitrogen cycles.

    • Nicolaas Glock
    • , Zeynep Erdem
    •  & Anton Eisenhauer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The response of biogeochemical nitrogen cycle to Earth-surface oxygenation remains poorly known. Here, the authors show that aerobic nitrogen cycling was pervasive prior to the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), but its evolution was complex, with diazotrophy prevailing and sustaining productivity after the GOE.

    • Genming Luo
    • , Christopher K. Junium
    •  & Roger E. Summons

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modelling studies propose sea ice to be one of the underlying mechanisms for the Mid-Pleistocene transition. Here, the authors show Mid-Pleistocene subarctic North Pacific sea ice dynamics based on biomarkers and biogenic opal accumulation rates, supporting the importance of sea ice for climate change.

    • H. Detlef
    • , S. T. Belt
    •  & S. Kender

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The underlying regulatory mechanisms of phytoplankton assimilation and microbial oxidation of ammonium in the surface ocean are unclear. Here, using isotope labeling experiments, the authors show that ambient nitrate is a key variable bifurcating ammonium flow through assimilation or oxidation.

    • Xianhui Sean Wan
    • , Hua-Xia Sheng
    •  & Shuh-Ji Kao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains unclear whether surface water partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in continental shelves tracks with increasing atmospheric pCO2. Here, the authors show that pCO2 in shelf waters lags behind rising atmospheric CO2 in a number of shelf regions, suggesting shelf uptake of atmospheric CO2.

    • Goulven G. Laruelle
    • , Wei-Jun Cai
    •  & Pierre Regnier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sea butterflies, or pteropods, are often presented as being at threat from ocean acidification on account of their fragile shells being susceptible to dissolution. Here the authors show that pteropods are able to perform extensive repair to damaged shells, suggesting they may not be as vulnerable as previously thought.

    • Victoria L. Peck
    • , Rosie L. Oakes
    •  & Geraint A. Tarling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The supply of CO2 to large marine phytoplankton cells is potentially limited by their diffusive boundary layer. Here, using direct microelectrode measurements, the authors show that extracellular carbonic anhydrase acts to maintain the concentration of CO2 at the cell surface to overcome this problem.

    • Abdul Chrachri
    • , Brian M. Hopkinson
    •  & Glen L. Wheeler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The degree of regional variability in marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export production is poorly constrained on a global scale. Here, the authors combine an artificial neural network and a data-constrained ocean circulation model to show that the efficiency of DOC export varies 3-fold across regions.

    • Saeed Roshan
    •  & Timothy DeVries

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding foraminifera mineralisation pathways is essential to correctly decipher the geochemical climate signals recorded in their shells. Here, the authors identify a non-classical crystallization pathway via metastable phases for Orbulina universa and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei.

    • D. E. Jacob
    • , R. Wirth
    •  & S. M. Eggins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the eastern equatorial Pacific, upwelling supplies nitrate in excess of iron relative to phytoplankton requirements. Here, using nitrate isotopes, the authors show that iron recycling in surface waters supports nitrate consumption, lowering surface nitrate concentration and explaining its variation.

    • Patrick A. Rafter
    • , Daniel M. Sigman
    •  & Katherine R. M. Mackey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reverse weathering reactions on or in the seafloor are a major sink of many elements and alkalinity in seawater. Here, the authors show how reduced rates of reverse weathering may be responsible for global cooling and increased seawater Mg/Ca over the past 50 million years.

    • Ann G. Dunlea
    • , Richard W. Murray
    •  & John A. Higgins

  • 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 potential contribution of redox reactions to acidification in coastal waters is unclear. Here, using measurements from the Chesapeake Bay, the authors show that pH minimum occurs at mid-depths where acids are produced via hydrogen sulfide oxidation in waters mixed upward from anoxic depths.

    • Wei-Jun Cai
    • , Wei-Jen Huang
    •  & W. Michael Kemp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coral reefs are biologically diverse and productive ecosystems, yet our understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification on biocalcification is limited. Here, the authors show that pH upregulation and the biological control of dissolved inorganic carbon in calcifying fluids ofPoritescorals are linked.

    • Malcolm T. McCulloch
    • , Juan Pablo D’Olivo
    •  & Julie A. Trotter

  • 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

    The downward transfer of organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean is increased in oxygen minimum zones relative to oxic waters. Here, the authors show reduced interactions of zooplankton with sinking particles owing to low oxygen are likely the primary reason for the observed high transfer of carbon.

    • E. L. Cavan
    • , M. Trimmer
    •  & R. Sanders

  • 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

    Potential age model problems with marine Δ14C records have obscured our understanding of the role of the deep-ocean in deglacial atmospheric CO2rise. Here, the authors show that deglacial ventilation of EEP thermocline and deep waters occurred synchronously and was coeval with changes in Atlantic records.

    • Natalie E. Umling
    •  & Robert C. Thunell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Corals may vary in their ability to regulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can influence coral health. Diaz and colleagues conductin vivomeasurements of the ROS superoxide at the surface of corals and find substantial species-level variation in superoxide regulation that is independent of bleaching status.

    • Julia M. Diaz
    • , Colleen M. Hansel
    •  & Liping Xun

  • 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

    Deep convection in the Irminger Sea has been shown to be highly variable on annual timescales. Here, the authors provide a direct link between atmospheric forcing and anthropogenic carbon storage and oxygen ventilation based on a unique cruise dataset acquired during active deep water formation.

    • F. Fröb
    • , A. Olsen
    •  & B. Rajasakaren

  • 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

    The importance of oxygen in supporting early animal ecosystems is unclear because most proxies are unable to distinguish well-oxygenated from intermediate waters. Here, the authors show that early skeletal animals were restricted to well-oxygenated habitats, suggesting they had a high metabolic oxygen demand.

    • R. Tostevin
    • , R. A. Wood
    •  & M. O. Clarkson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation supplies bioavailable nitrogen to marine ecosystems, but the mechanisms governing iron and phosphorus co-limitation in elevated CO2remain unknown. Here, the authors show a complex cellular response to co-limitation characterized by changes in growth, cell size, and the proteome.

    • Nathan G. Walworth
    • , Fei-Xue Fu
    •  & David A. Hutchins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oxygen depletion in the ocean interior may be closely linked to atmospheric CO2level, yet robust proxies are scarce. Here, using foraminiferal I/Ca as a proxy for oxygenation changes, the authors show that oxygen depletion in the upper waters of the high latitude Southern Ocean occurred during glacials.

    • Zunli Lu
    • , Babette A. A. Hoogakker
    •  & Rosalind E. M. Rickaby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predictability of variations in the ocean carbon sink has remained unexplored in previous decadal prediction studies based on modern Earth system models. Here, the authors show that potential predictive skill of the ocean CO2uptake in the North Atlantic western subpolar gyre region is up to 4–7 years.

    • Hongmei Li
    • , Tatiana Ilyina
    •  & Frank Sienz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While numerous studies have indicated that carbon export to the deep ocean was greater during glacial periods, quantification is lacking. Here, via analysis of hundreds of sediment cores, the authors show carbon accumulation rate was 50% higher during glacial maxima than during interglacials.

    • Olivier Cartapanis
    • , Daniele Bianchi
    •  & Eric D. Galbraith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    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
    | Open Access

    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

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