Manganese oxides are thought to be a signature of atmospheric oxygen. But on the Red Planet, recent results suggest they might be more of a red herring.
oxygen
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Respiration Quotient Variability and Ocean Oxygen Levels
Respiration quotients in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans reflect different water temperature, nutrient stress and phytoplankton community structure, important for regional carbon and oxygen cycling.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Tracing Oxidizing Slab Fluids in Cold Volcanic Arcs
Elevated copper isotope ratios in arc magmas from fluid-rich cold subduction zones support the role of oxidizing fluids from the subducted lithospheric serpentinite in the oxidization of arc magmas.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Amazon Basin Tree Rings Hold a Record of the Region’s Rainfall
New research provides a 200-year reconstruction of interannual rainfall in the Amazon basin using oxygen isotopes preserved in tree rings in Ecuador and Bolivia.
Posted inNews
Early Life Learned to Love Oxygen Long Before It Was Cool
Laboratory experiments show that earthquakes may have helped early life evolve in an oxygen-free world.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Short-Term Events Can Shrink the Habitable Zone in Oceans
A new study looks at habitat reduction during low-oxygen events, spurring the question, Could short-term events provide a window into the long-term health of oceans?
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Tool to Decipher Past Upper Troposphere Temperatures
Small variations in clumped O2 isotopes reflect temperatures in the upper troposphere. Bubbles measured in polar ice cores show the global lapse-rate appears to steepen during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tracing Water Particles Back in Time
Every summer, a low-oxygen pool settles off Canada’s western coast. A new study uses robust modeling to track the origins of the dense water.
Posted inNews
Without Deep Emissions Cuts, Marine Species Face Mass Extinction
On the basis of how much oxygen marine species need and how much is available, researchers predict extinctions comparable to those at the end of the Permian under a business-as-usual emissions scenario.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Climate and Currents Shaped Japan’s Hunter-Gatherer Cultures
New climate records from a peat bog show how two neighboring cultures responded differently to shifts in climate and ocean currents.