Nitrous oxide as a function of oxygen and archaeal gene abundance in the North Pacific

Trimmer, M, Chronopoulou, P-M, Maanoja, ST, Upstill-Goddard, RC, Kitidis, V and Purdy, KJ 2016 Nitrous oxide as a function of oxygen and archaeal gene abundance in the North Pacific. Nature Communications, 7. 13451. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13451

Preview

Text Trimmer_et_al_2016_N2O_function_O2_archaea.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (945kB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Subjects:	Marine Sciences Oceanography
Divisions:	Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Marine Biochemistry and Observations
Depositing User:	Vassilis Kitidis
Date made live:	16 Mar 2018 15:02
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 09:58
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/7463

Actions (login required)

View Item