Nitrous oxide as a function of oxygen and archaeal gene abundance in the North Pacific
Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2016 papers
Abstract
Oceanic oxygen minimum zones are strong sources of the potent greenhouse gas N2O but its microbial source is unclear. We characterized an exponential response in N2O production to decreasing oxygen between 1 and 30 μmol O2 l-1 within and below the oxycline using 15NO2-, a relationship that held along a 550 km offshore transect in the North Pacific. Differences in the overall magnitude of N2O production were accounted for by archaeal functional gene abundance. A one-dimensional (1D) model, parameterized with our experimentally derived exponential terms, accurately reproduces N2O profiles in the top 350 m of water column and, together with a strong 45N2O signature indicated neither canonical nor nitrifier-denitrification production while statistical modelling supported production by archaea, possibly via hybrid N2O formation. Further, with just archaeal N2O production, we could balance high-resolution estimates of sea-to-air N2O exchange. Hence, a significant source of N2O, previously described as leakage from bacterial ammonium oxidation, is better described by low-oxygen archaeal production at the oxygen minimum zone's margins.
Related Papers
- → The Number of Transects Required to Compute a Robust PHABSIM Habitat Index(2004)31 cited
- Extent effect of landscape gradient analysis of urban-rural transect(2008)
- → Advantages and Guidelines for Using Nitrous Oxide(1992)5 cited
- A COMPARISON OF THE VEGETATION OF TWO SAND DUNE AREAS IN NORTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S.A.(2008)
- Effect of C/N Ratio to Nitrogen Removal Efficiency and Nitrous Oxide Emission during Denitrification Coupled with Catalytic Iron(2014)