New research has revealed that significant amounts of excess nitrogen in coastal waters are buried as oyster reefs grow and that some reefs trap more nitrogen than others.
biogeochemistry
Have We Been Focusing on the Wrong Ocean Pollutants? This Study Maps What We’ve Been Missing
A global analysis of more than 2,300 seawater samples found that largely unmonitored industrial compounds are widespread across oceans and may be changing crucial biological and carbon cycling processes.
Asteroid Hosts All Ingredients for DNA and RNA
Samples collected from asteroid Ryugu contain the four genetic “letters” of DNA, reinforcing the hypothesis that the chemical origins of life were present when the solar system began.
A New Twist on Robotic Float Data Reveals Critical Ocean Chemistry
A novel application of a statistical method to existing data from the global network of BGC-Argo floats unveiled chemical measurements critical to tracking nitrogen cycling in oxygen minimum zones.
A Mid-Ocean Ridge in the Norwegian Sea Pumps Out Hydrogen
Vent fluids collected from the Knipovich Ridge contain unexpectedly high concentrations of hydrogen, potentially produced by the degradation of organic matter.
Coral Diversity Drops as Ocean Acidifies
As seawater becomes steadily more acidic, complex branching corals die off and are replaced with hard boulder corals and algae.
Hydrothermal Circulation and Its Impact on the Earth System
From a gathering of scientists at a uniquely well-preserved section of ancient oceanic crust came a monograph investigating the latest in hydrothermal fluxes and seawater chemistry.
Glacier Runoff Becomes Less Nutritious as Glaciers Retreat
Sediment from retreating, land-terminating glaciers contains proportionally fewer micronutrients such as iron and manganese, reducing the glaciers’ value to microorganisms at the base of the food web.
How Algae Helped Some Life Outlast Extinction
Cooler waters near Norway’s north provided a refuge for phytoplankton during the Great Dying, a new study suggests.
Tectonics and Climate Are Shaping an Alaskan Ecosystem
Biogeochemical research reveals the web of forces acting on a high-latitude microbe community in the Copper River Delta.
