Fossil plankton shells reveal reduced nitrogen fixation in warmer oceans 3 million years ago
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have discovered that nitrogen fixation in the tropical Atlantic was significantly reduced during the warm late Pliocene epoch. This finding helps clarify how ocean nutrient cycles respond to long-term climate warming.
Why it matters
Understanding historical nitrogen cycles is crucial for predicting how modern oceans will respond to current climate change and its impact on marine food webs.
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source The foraminifera Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, photographed under a scanning electron microscope. Credit: Jan Leitner & Lena Heins, MPIC / edited by Maayan Yehudai Nitrogen is a key nutrient because it fuels the growth of plankton, which forms the basis of the marine food web. Two opposing processes determine the global nitrogen cycle: nitrogen fixation and denitrification.
Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria convert nitrogen gas (N 2 ) dissolved in water into a bioavailable form. This occurs primarily in warm, nutrient-poor surface waters. In the Atlantic, nearly 90% of nitrogen fixation occurs in the tropical North Atlantic, making it a key region for understanding this process.
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