Abstract
The potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) may have been an important constituent of Earth's atmosphere during Proterozoic (~2.5–0.5 Ga). Here, we tested the hypothesis that chemodenitrification, the rapid reduction of nitric oxide by ferrous iron, would have enhanced the flux of N2O from ferruginous Proterozoic seas. We empirically derived a rate law, (Formula presented.), and measured an isotopic site preference of +16‰ for the reaction. Using this empirical rate law, and integrating across an oceanwide oxycline, we found that low nM NO and μM-low mM Fe2+ concentrations could have sustained a sea-air flux of 100–200 Tg N2O–N year−1, if N2 fixation rates were near-modern and all fixed N2 was emitted as N2O. A 1D photochemical model was used to obtain steady-state atmospheric N2O concentrations as a function of sea-air N2O flux across the wide range of possible pO2 values (0.001–1 PAL). At 100–200 Tg N2O–N year−1 and >0.1 PAL O2, this model yielded low-ppmv N2O, which would produce several degrees of greenhouse warming at 1.6 ppmv CH4 and 320 ppmv CO2. These results suggest that enhanced N2O production in ferruginous seawater via a previously unconsidered chemodenitrification pathway may have helped to fill a Proterozoic “greenhouse gap,” reconciling an ice-free Mesoproterozoic Earth with a less luminous early Sun. A particularly notable result was that high N2O fluxes at intermediate O2 concentrations (0.01–0.1 PAL) would have enhanced ozone screening of solar UV radiation. Due to rapid photolysis in the absence of an ozone shield, N2O is unlikely to have been an important greenhouse gas if Mesoproterozoic O2 was 0.001 PAL. At low O2, N2O might have played a more important role as life's primary terminal electron acceptor during the transition from an anoxic to oxic surface Earth, and correspondingly, from anaerobic to aerobic metabolisms.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 597-609 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Geobiology |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2018 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Environmental Science(all)
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
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Nitrous oxide from chemodenitrification : A possible missing link in the Proterozoic greenhouse and the evolution of aerobic respiration. / Stanton, Chloe L.; Reinhard, Christopher T.; Kasting, James; Ostrom, Nathaniel E.; Haslun, Joshua A.; Lyons, Timothy W.; Glass, Jennifer B.
In: Geobiology, Vol. 16, No. 6, 01.11.2018, p. 597-609.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Nitrous oxide from chemodenitrification
T2 - A possible missing link in the Proterozoic greenhouse and the evolution of aerobic respiration
AU - Stanton, Chloe L.
AU - Reinhard, Christopher T.
AU - Kasting, James
AU - Ostrom, Nathaniel E.
AU - Haslun, Joshua A.
AU - Lyons, Timothy W.
AU - Glass, Jennifer B.
PY - 2018/11/1
Y1 - 2018/11/1
N2 - The potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) may have been an important constituent of Earth's atmosphere during Proterozoic (~2.5–0.5 Ga). Here, we tested the hypothesis that chemodenitrification, the rapid reduction of nitric oxide by ferrous iron, would have enhanced the flux of N2O from ferruginous Proterozoic seas. We empirically derived a rate law, (Formula presented.), and measured an isotopic site preference of +16‰ for the reaction. Using this empirical rate law, and integrating across an oceanwide oxycline, we found that low nM NO and μM-low mM Fe2+ concentrations could have sustained a sea-air flux of 100–200 Tg N2O–N year−1, if N2 fixation rates were near-modern and all fixed N2 was emitted as N2O. A 1D photochemical model was used to obtain steady-state atmospheric N2O concentrations as a function of sea-air N2O flux across the wide range of possible pO2 values (0.001–1 PAL). At 100–200 Tg N2O–N year−1 and >0.1 PAL O2, this model yielded low-ppmv N2O, which would produce several degrees of greenhouse warming at 1.6 ppmv CH4 and 320 ppmv CO2. These results suggest that enhanced N2O production in ferruginous seawater via a previously unconsidered chemodenitrification pathway may have helped to fill a Proterozoic “greenhouse gap,” reconciling an ice-free Mesoproterozoic Earth with a less luminous early Sun. A particularly notable result was that high N2O fluxes at intermediate O2 concentrations (0.01–0.1 PAL) would have enhanced ozone screening of solar UV radiation. Due to rapid photolysis in the absence of an ozone shield, N2O is unlikely to have been an important greenhouse gas if Mesoproterozoic O2 was 0.001 PAL. At low O2, N2O might have played a more important role as life's primary terminal electron acceptor during the transition from an anoxic to oxic surface Earth, and correspondingly, from anaerobic to aerobic metabolisms.
AB - The potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) may have been an important constituent of Earth's atmosphere during Proterozoic (~2.5–0.5 Ga). Here, we tested the hypothesis that chemodenitrification, the rapid reduction of nitric oxide by ferrous iron, would have enhanced the flux of N2O from ferruginous Proterozoic seas. We empirically derived a rate law, (Formula presented.), and measured an isotopic site preference of +16‰ for the reaction. Using this empirical rate law, and integrating across an oceanwide oxycline, we found that low nM NO and μM-low mM Fe2+ concentrations could have sustained a sea-air flux of 100–200 Tg N2O–N year−1, if N2 fixation rates were near-modern and all fixed N2 was emitted as N2O. A 1D photochemical model was used to obtain steady-state atmospheric N2O concentrations as a function of sea-air N2O flux across the wide range of possible pO2 values (0.001–1 PAL). At 100–200 Tg N2O–N year−1 and >0.1 PAL O2, this model yielded low-ppmv N2O, which would produce several degrees of greenhouse warming at 1.6 ppmv CH4 and 320 ppmv CO2. These results suggest that enhanced N2O production in ferruginous seawater via a previously unconsidered chemodenitrification pathway may have helped to fill a Proterozoic “greenhouse gap,” reconciling an ice-free Mesoproterozoic Earth with a less luminous early Sun. A particularly notable result was that high N2O fluxes at intermediate O2 concentrations (0.01–0.1 PAL) would have enhanced ozone screening of solar UV radiation. Due to rapid photolysis in the absence of an ozone shield, N2O is unlikely to have been an important greenhouse gas if Mesoproterozoic O2 was 0.001 PAL. At low O2, N2O might have played a more important role as life's primary terminal electron acceptor during the transition from an anoxic to oxic surface Earth, and correspondingly, from anaerobic to aerobic metabolisms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052472562&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85052472562&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/gbi.12311
DO - 10.1111/gbi.12311
M3 - Article
C2 - 30133143
AN - SCOPUS:85052472562
VL - 16
SP - 597
EP - 609
JO - Geobiology
JF - Geobiology
SN - 1472-4677
IS - 6
ER -