Response of the Nitrogen Cycle to Ocean Redox Chemistry During the Great Oxidation Event
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Abstract
One of the most fundamental questions that drives natural sciences is how life evolved on Earth. Understanding how life evolved on this planet also informs our search for habitable planets in other solar systems. What we now know beyond a reasonable doubt is that simple single-celled organisms evolved in the ocean greater than 3 billion years ago. We also know that the chemistry of the Earth's surface (both the atmosphere and the oceans) has undergone dramatic changes since that first cell division occurred. What we then seek to understand is how the evolution of life has responded to, and in some cases driven, these changes in Earth surface chemistry. Understanding how life responded to geochemical changes on the planet in the past will additionally help us to more clearly predict how life will respond to chemical changes in the future, for example associated with rapidly approaching climate change. One of the major parameters that affects life in the ocean is the availability of dissolved oxygen, which is not only essential for all higher life forms to exist, but also directly controls the distribution and abundance of essential elements that make up the building blocks of life. For the first ~3.5 billion years of Earth history, the ocean was characterized by a lack of dissolved oxygen, a situation known as anoxia. Oxygen first began to build up in the atmosphere and oceans between ~2.4 and 2.3 billion years ago, in perhaps the most dramatic event in the history of Earth surface chemistry, termed the Great Oxidation Event. It was not until ~580 million years ago that oxygen levels in the atmosphere rose sufficiently to completely oxygenate the oceans. In the intervening ~2 billion years, the chemistry of the oceans fluctuated rapidly between various levels of oxygenation. Thus a major focus for scientific research recently has been on identifying and understanding the response of biology and the cycling of essential nutrients to variable amounts of oxygen in the environment. Nitrogen is an essential element in all living organisms, required along with carbon and phosphorus for the formation of proteins, amino acids, DNA and RNA. The distribution of nitrogen in the biosphere is controlled by biological reactions that respond to environmental parameters, including the amount of available oxygen. Despite the importance of nitrogen to life, very little is known about how the nitrogen cycle responded to fluctuations in oxygen concentrations over Earth history. The aim of this project is specifically to interpret the response of the global nitrogen cycle to changes in the oxygen content of the atmosphere and oceans during the Great Oxidation Event. This will be accomplished by laboratory experiments with microorganisms that are important in the modern nitrogen cycle, and application of the results of the experimental studies to the investigation of nitrogen and indicators of oxygenation in sedimentary rocks spanning the Great Oxidation Event.
People |
ORCID iD |
Aubrey Zerkle (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Farquhar J, Zerkle AL, Bekker A
(2014)
Treatise on Geochemistry: Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences
Izon G
(2017)
Biological regulation of atmospheric chemistry en route to planetary oxygenation.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Izon G
(2015)
Multiple oscillations in Neoarchaean atmospheric chemistry
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Lyons T
(2015)
Emerging Biogeochemical Views of Earth's Ancient Microbial Worlds
in Elements
Mettam C
(2019)
Anaerobic nitrogen cycling on a Neoarchaean ocean margin
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Mettam C
(2017)
High-frequency fluctuations in redox conditions during the latest Permian mass extinction
in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Meyer NR
(2017)
Sulphur cycling in a Neoarchaean microbial mat.
in Geobiology
Zavina-James N
(2021)
A copper isotope investigation of methane cycling in Late Archaean sediments
in Precambrian Research
Zerkle A
(2016)
Sulfur isotope values in the sulfidic Frasassi cave system, central Italy: A case study of a chemolithotrophic S-based ecosystem
in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Zerkle AL
(2017)
The geobiological nitrogen cycle: From microbes to the mantle.
in Geobiology
Description | NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities Steering Committee |
Amount | £23,500 (GBP) |
Funding ID | IP-1475-1114 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Department | NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2016 |
End | 01/2017 |
Title | nano-EA-IR-MS at SUERC |
Description | I have funded the setup of a nano-EA-IR-MS system at SUERC, to be used for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of low quantities of C and N |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This method will expand the UK's capability for measuring nano-scale stable isotope analyses, for applications in geosciences and life sciences. |
Description | Leeds |
Organisation | University of Leeds |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We funded two sampling trips to the Pretoria core library for sampling Neoarchean, Paleoproterozoic, and Phanerozoic samples |
Collaborator Contribution | Use of facilities for sample prep, analyses of carbon and nitrogen isotopes; also several papers in prep from samples we collected together |
Impact | Zerkle, A. L., Poulton, S. W., Newton, R. J., Bekker, A., and Claire, M. W. (2014) Rapid expansion of the aerobic nitrogen cycle during the Great Oxidation Event: Nature, in revision. Izon, G.*, Zerkle, A. L., Zhelezhinskaya, Y., Farquhar, J., Newton, R. J., Poulton, S. W., Eigenbrode, J. L., and Claire, M. W. (2014) Rapid oscillations in atmospheric chemistry in the prelude to the Great Oxidation Event: EPSL, in review. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | Natural History Museum |
Organisation | Natural History Museum |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | geochemistry (CNS isotopes and Fe speciation) of samples spanning the Permian-Triassic extinction event |
Collaborator Contribution | samples, led field expedition |
Impact | Mettam CM, Zerkle AZ, Claire MC, Junium C, and Twitchett R (in prep) Paleoenvironmental implications of d15N records across the arctic PT boundary (for submission to Geobiology) |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | SUERC |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Department | Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We will be providing samples and a trained PGR student to set up further nano-EA-irMS for N isotope analyses of small sample sizes |
Collaborator Contribution | They will be contributing time and instrumentation to set up nano-EA-irMS for N isotope analyses of small sample sizes |
Impact | Mettam, C, Zerkle, AL, Claire, MW, Newton, J, Boyce, A, and Junium, CJ (2014) Nitrogen cycling on a Neoarchean carbonate platform: Co-evolution of Life and the Planet meeting, London (poster) |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Syracuse |
Organisation | Syracuse University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have a PGR student who has extracted kerogen from Neoarchean samples collected for my NERC fellowship and traveled to Syracuse to analyse them for N isotopes |
Collaborator Contribution | They have provided training and use of a nano-EA-irMS system for measuring N isotopes on very small sample sizes |
Impact | Mettam, C, Zerkle, AL, Claire, MW, Newton, J, Boyce, A, and Junium, CJ (2014) Nitrogen cycling on a Neoarchean carbonate platform: Co-evolution of Life and the Planet meeting, London (poster) Mettam CM, Zerkle AZ, Claire MC, Junium C, and Twitchett R (in prep) Paleoenvironmental implications of d15N records across the arctic PT boundary (for submission to Geobiology) |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | UMD |
Organisation | University of Maryland, College Park |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have provided samples and initial bulk rock sulfur isotope data |
Collaborator Contribution | They have provided SIMS sulfur isotope data and use of Mat253 for multiple sulfur isotope work; this has resulted in one publication and several projects in prep |
Impact | Farquhar, J., Cliff, J., Zerkle, A. L., Kamyshny, A., Jr., Poulton, S. W., Claire, M. W., Adams, D., and Harms, B. (2013) Pathways for Neoarchen pyrite formation constrained by mass-independent sulfur isotopes: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110 (44), 17638-17643. Zerkle, A. L., Claire, M. W., Domagal-Goldman, S. D., Farquhar, J., and Poulton, S. W. (2012) A bistable organic-rich atmosphere on the Neoarchaean Earth: Nature Geoscience 5, 359-363. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | Edinburgh Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | In April 2016 I gave a public seminar at the National Museum of Scotland, within the theme "Life in the Extremes" at the Edinburgh Science Festival. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/029858-life-in-the-extremes/ |
Description | Elements Magazine |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article in the Magazine, Elements: Lyons, T., Fike, D., and Zerkle, A. L. (2015) Emerging biogeochemical views of Earth's ancient microbial worlds: Elements 11 (6), 415-421. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Invited Public Lecture - Edinburgh Geological Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 50 members of the public and professional geologists attended this lecture, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Invited Public Lecture - St Andrews Open Association |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 50 members of the local public attended this public lecture, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Media coverage |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Local press release resulting in international media coverage. Listed in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric; picked up by 6 news outlets (including the National), 3 blogs, 66 tweeters, and 2 Redditors. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.thenational.scot/news/15075295.New_research_at_St_Andrews_reveals_insight_into__most_dram... |