scholarly journals Nitrogenase inhibition limited oxygenation of the Proterozoic atmosphere

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Allen ◽  
Brenda Thake ◽  
William F. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Oxygen Inhibition ◽  
Great Oxidation Event ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
Nitrogenase Inhibition

Cyanobacteria produced the atmospheric O2that began accumulating 2.4 billion years ago1, leading to Earth’s Great Oxidation Event (GOE)2. For nearly 2 billion years following the GOE, O2production was restricted and atmospheric oxygen remained low2–5. Oxygen rose again sharply with the advent of land plants roughly 450 million years ago, which increased atmospheric O2through carbon burial4–5. Why did the O2content of the atmosphere remain constant and low for more than a billion years despite the existence of O2-producing cyanobacteria? While geological limitations have been explored2–7, the limiting factor may have been biological, and enzymatic. Here we propose that O2was kept low by oxygen inhibition of nitrogenase activity. Nitrogenase is the sole N2-fixing enzyme on Earth, and is inactive in air containing 2% or more O2by volume8. No O2-resistant nitrogenase enzyme is known9–12. We further propose that nitrogenase inhibition by O2kept atmospheric O2low until upright terrestrial plants physically separated O2production in aerial photosynthetic tissues from N2fixation in soil, liberating nitrogenase from inhibition by atmospheric O2.

Herbivory and its effect on Phanerozoic oxygen concentrations

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-414
Author(s):  
T.A. Laakso ◽  
J.V. Strauss ◽  
K.J. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Colonization ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Oxygen Levels ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial

Abstract The appearance of terrestrial land plants is thought to have accompanied an increase in atmospheric oxygen levels, producing the highest O2 concentrations estimated from the geological record, and marking the transition to a permanently oxygenated deep ocean. This Paleozoic oxygenation event, which likely peaked in the Carboniferous Period, was at least partially mediated by the development of recalcitrant, carbon-rich organic compounds in terrestrial plants. A number of studies have argued that shifts in coal formation and paleogeography led to declining preservation of these compounds on land, depressing oxygen levels in the terminal Paleozoic and early Mesozoic. In contrast, we propose that the evolution and diversification of terrestrial herbivores may have limited transport and long-term burial of terrestrial organic compounds in marine sediments, resulting in less organic carbon burial and attendant declines in atmospheric oxygen. This mechanism suggests that interactions among a triad of biological processes—marine photosynthesis, land plant colonization, and the advent of herbivory—may have dictated the long-term redox state of Earth’s surface environments over the Phanerozoic Eon.

scholarly journals Baptism by fire: the pivotal role of ancient conflagrations in evolution of the Earth's flora

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianhua He ◽  
Byron B Lamont
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Origin And Evolution ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
And Function

Abstract Fire became a defining feature of the Earth's processes as soon as land plants evolved 420 million years ago and has played a major role in shaping the composition and physiognomy of many ecosystems ever since. However, there remains a general lack of appreciation of the place of fire in the origin, evolution, ecology and conservation of the Earth's biodiversity. We review the literature on the presence of fire throughout the Earth's history following the evolution of land plants and examine the evidence for the origin and evolution of adaptive functional traits, biomes and major plant groups in relation to fire. We show that: (1) fire activities have fluctuated throughout geological time due to variations in climate, and more importantly in atmospheric oxygen, as these affected fuel levels and flammability; (2) fire promoted the early evolution and spread of major terrestrial plant groups; (3) fire has shaped the floristics, structure and function of major global biomes; and (4) fire has initiated and maintained the evolution of a wide array of fire-adapted functional traits since the evolution of land plants. We conclude that fire has been a fundamental agent of natural selection on terrestrial plants throughout the history of life on the Earth's land surface. We suggest that a paradigm shift is required to reassess ecological and evolutionary theories that exclude a role for fire, and also there is a need to review fire-suppression policies on ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation in global fire-prone regions.

Earth’s Middle Ages: What Came after the GOE

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Eugene Canfield
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Banded Iron Formation ◽  
Dissolved Iron ◽  
Great Oxidation Event ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Substantial Rise

This chapter considers the aftermath of the great oxidation event (GOE). It suggests that there was a substantial rise in oxygen defining the GOE, which may, in turn have led to the Lomagundi isotope excursion, which was associated with high rates of organic matter burial and perhaps even higher concentrations of oxygen. This excursion was soon followed by a crash in oxygen to very low levels and a return to banded iron formation deposition. When the massive amounts of organic carbon buried during the excursion were brought into the weathering environment, they would have represented a huge oxygen sink, drawing down levels of atmospheric oxygen. There appeared to be a veritable seesaw in oxygen concentrations, apparently triggered initially by the GOE. The GOE did not produce enough oxygen to oxygenate the oceans. Dissolved iron was removed from the oceans not by reaction with oxygen but rather by reaction with sulfide. Thus, the deep oceans remained anoxic and became rich in sulfide, instead of becoming well oxygenated.

DID EARLY LAND PLANTS PRODUCE A STEPWISE-CHANGE IN ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN DURING THE LATE ORDOVICIAN (SANDBIAN ~ 458 MA)?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Datu Adiatma ◽  
◽  
Matthew R. Saltzman ◽  
Seth A. Young ◽  
Elizabeth M. Griffith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Stepwise Change ◽  
Early Land

Terrestrial plants and marine algae from the Late Jurassic lithographic limestone of the Causse Méjean (Lozère, southern France)

2016 ◽  
Vol 187 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-127
Author(s):  
Jean-David Moreau ◽  
Louis Baret ◽  
Gérard Lafaurie ◽  
Carmela Chateau-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Marine Algae ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Fossil Plants ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Southern France ◽  
Lithographic Limestone ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Marine Lagoon

Abstract A new Late Jurassic flora was discovered in the fossiliferous lithographic limestone of the Causse Méjean, Lozère (southern France). It consists of the first Kimmeridgian/Tithonian plants from this area. Fossil plants are represented by megaremains preserved as impressions. This flora shows a co-occurrence of terrestrial plants and marine algae. The land plants include vegetative remains ascribed to bennettitaleans (Zamites Brongniart, 1828), conifers (Brachyphyllum Brongniart, 1828), and pteridosperms (Cycadopteris Zigno, 1853). Marine algae were ascribed to dasyclads (Goniolina D’Orbigny, 1850). Lithological and palaeontological features suggest preservation in a flat, homogeneous, protected environment, perhaps a brackish or marine lagoon, influenced by both continental and marine inputs. This discovery complements the few existing reports of European Late Jurassic floras, and indicates that coastal habitats were dominated by sub-arborescent vegetation, consisting of bennettitaleans and pteridosperms, and arborescent plants, such as conifers. Both the palaeoenvironmental context and certain xerophytic features suggest that these terrestrial plants from the Causse Méjean were well adapted to the hot, dry conditions of coastal areas.

Enhanced paleo-wildfire occurrences caused by marine organic carbon burial during the Late Devonian Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Lu ◽  
YueHan Lu ◽  
Takehitio Ikejiri ◽  
Richard Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Burial Rate ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
Chattanooga Shale ◽  
Chemical Index ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Extinction Events

<p>The Frasnian–Famennian (F–F) boundary is characterized by worldwide depositions of organic-rich strata, a series of marine anoxia events and one of the biggest five mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic. Due to the enhanced burial of organic matter, a coeval positive carbon isotope (δ<sup>13</sup>C) excursion occurred around the F–F boundary, raising questions about carbon cycle feedbacks during the mass extinction. In this study, we test the hypothesis that enhanced burial organic carbon during the F–F mass extinction led to the rise of paleo-wildfire occurrences. Here, we reconstructed paleo-wildfire changes across the F–F boundary via analyzing fossil charcoal (inertinites) and pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from an Upper Devonian Chattanooga Shale in the southern Appalachian Basin. Our data show low abundances of inertinites and pyrogenic PAHs before the F–F transition and an increasing trend during the F–F transition, followed by a sustained enhancement through the entire Famennian interval. The changes in paleo-wildfire proxies suggest a rise of wildfires starting from the F–F transition. Furthermore, we quantified the amount of organic carbon burial required to drive the observed δ<sup>13</sup>C excursion using a forward box model. The modeling results show an increased carbon burial rate after the onset of the F–F transition and peaking during its termination. The comparison of the carbon burial rate and wildfire proxies indicates that widespread organic carbon burial during the F–F transition might cause elevated atmospheric oxygen levels and hence increased occurrences of wildfires. In addition, chemical index alteration index and plant biomarkers suggest a drying climate initiated during the F–F transition, implying that the enhanced carbon burial probably result in the climate change and amplify the wildfire occurrences.</p>

Hydrogen Evolution Catalyzed by Hydrogenase in Cultures of Cyanobacteria

1981 ◽  
Vol 36 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 87-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick C. Hallenbeck ◽  
Leon V. Kochian ◽  
John R. Benemann
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Hydrogen Evolution ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Hydrogenase Activity ◽  
Oxygen Inhibition ◽  
Oxygen Sensitive

Abstract Cultures of Anabaena cylindrica, grown on media containing 5 mᴍ NH4Cl (which represses heterocyst formation), evolved hydrogen after a period of dark incubation under an argon atmosphere. This hydrogen production was not due to nitrogenase activity, which was nearly undetectable, but was due to a hydrogenase. Cultures grown on media with tungsten substituted for molybdenum had a high frequency of heterocysts (15%) and inactive nitrogenase after nitrogen starvation. The hydrogenase activity of these cultures was three-fold greater than the activity of non-heterocystous cultures. The effects of oxygen inhibition on hydrogen evolution by hetero-cystous cultures suggest that two pools of hydrogenase activity exist - an oxygen sensitive hydrogen evolution in vegetative cells and a relatively oxygen-resistent hydrogen evolution in heterocysts. In either case, inhibition by oxygen was reversible. Light had an inhibitory effect on net hydrogen evolution. Hydrogen production in vitro was much higher than in vivo, indicating that in vivo hydrogenase activity is limited by endogenous reductant supply.

scholarly journals Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (35) ◽  
pp. 9704-9709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Lenton ◽  
Tais W. Dahl ◽  
Stuart J. Daines ◽  
Benjamin J. W. Mills ◽  
Kazumi Ozaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Carbon Burial ◽  
C:P Ratio ◽  
Marine Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon Burial

The progressive oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere was pivotal to the evolution of life, but the puzzle of when and how atmospheric oxygen (O2) first approached modern levels (∼21%) remains unresolved. Redox proxy data indicate the deep oceans were oxygenated during 435–392 Ma, and the appearance of fossil charcoal indicates O2 >15–17% by 420–400 Ma. However, existing models have failed to predict oxygenation at this time. Here we show that the earliest plants, which colonized the land surface from ∼470 Ma onward, were responsible for this mid-Paleozoic oxygenation event, through greatly increasing global organic carbon burial—the net long-term source of O2. We use a trait-based ecophysiological model to predict that cryptogamic vegetation cover could have achieved ∼30% of today’s global terrestrial net primary productivity by ∼445 Ma. Data from modern bryophytes suggests this plentiful early plant material had a much higher molar C:P ratio (∼2,000) than marine biomass (∼100), such that a given weathering flux of phosphorus could support more organic carbon burial. Furthermore, recent experiments suggest that early plants selectively increased the flux of phosphorus (relative to alkalinity) weathered from rocks. Combining these effects in a model of long-term biogeochemical cycling, we reproduce a sustained +2‰ increase in the carbonate carbon isotope (δ13C) record by ∼445 Ma, and predict a corresponding rise in O2 to present levels by 420–400 Ma, consistent with geochemical data. This oxygen rise represents a permanent shift in regulatory regime to one where fire-mediated negative feedbacks stabilize high O2 levels.

scholarly journals Timing and tempo of the Great Oxidation Event

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (8) ◽  
pp. 1811-1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley P. Gumsley ◽  
Kevin R. Chamberlain ◽  
Wouter Bleeker ◽  
Ulf Söderlund ◽  
Michiel O. de Kock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Kaapvaal Craton ◽  
Large Igneous Province ◽  
Snowball Earth ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
Great Oxidation Event ◽  
Carbon Isotope Excursion ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
Age Constraints ◽  
Exact Timing

The first significant buildup in atmospheric oxygen, the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), began in the early Paleoproterozoic in association with global glaciations and continued until the end of the Lomagundi carbon isotope excursion ca. 2,060 Ma. The exact timing of and relationships among these events are debated because of poor age constraints and contradictory stratigraphic correlations. Here, we show that the first Paleoproterozoic global glaciation and the onset of the GOE occurred between ca. 2,460 and 2,426 Ma, ∼100 My earlier than previously estimated, based on an age of 2,426 ± 3 Ma for Ongeluk Formation magmatism from the Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. This age helps define a key paleomagnetic pole that positions the Kaapvaal Craton at equatorial latitudes of 11° ± 6° at this time. Furthermore, the rise of atmospheric oxygen was not monotonic, but was instead characterized by oscillations, which together with climatic instabilities may have continued over the next ∼200 My until ≤2,250–2,240 Ma. Ongeluk Formation volcanism at ca. 2,426 Ma was part of a large igneous province (LIP) and represents a waning stage in the emplacement of several temporally discrete LIPs across a large low-latitude continental landmass. These LIPs played critical, albeit complex, roles in the rise of oxygen and in both initiating and terminating global glaciations. This series of events invites comparison with the Neoproterozoic oxygen increase and Sturtian Snowball Earth glaciation, which accompanied emplacement of LIPs across supercontinent Rodinia, also positioned at low latitude.

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