Researchers combined computer simulations with proxy data and found that when dissolved oxygen concentrations are lower than current levels, the marine nitrogen cycle operates fundamentally differently; the authors also found that ammonium replaces nitrate as the main component of fixed nitrogen as the nitrogen inventory partially collapses relative to phosphorus, suggesting that changes in the oxygen content of oceans may lead to significant biogeochemical vulnerability, according to the authors.
Article #19-05553: "Fundamentally different global marine nitrogen cycling in response to severe ocean deoxygenation," by B. David A. Naafs et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: B. David A. Naafs, University of Bristol, UNITED KINGDOM; tel: +44-1173317244, +44(0)744-6886270; email: david.naafs@bristol.ac.uk
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences