Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (44) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kuypers, M. M.M. Articles by Damsté, J. S. S. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

N₂-fixing cyanobacteria supplied nutrient N for Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events

¹ Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Netherlands
² Department of Earth Sciences, University of Milan, "A. Desio," via L. Mangiagalli 34, 20133 Milano, Italy
³ Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Netherlands

The abundance of specific membrane lipids, 2-methylhopanoids, indicates that cyanobacteria played a key role in the seemingly global deposition of black shales during the early Aptian (ca. 120.5 Ma) and late Cenomanian (ca. 93.5 Ma) oceanic anoxic events. Organic matter–rich sediments deposited during these events are characterized by a ¹⁵N content typical of newly fixed N₂, indicating that cyanobacterial N₂ fixation was the main source for nutrient N. We propose that denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation effectively cut off the return of nutrient N from the anoxic deep waters to the photic zone in the oceans, giving N₂-fixing cyanobacteria a competitive advantage over algae during these oceanic anoxic events.

Key Words: cyanobacteria • nitrogen fixation • oceanic anoxic event • denitrification • anammox • black shales • paleoceanography

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Sepulveda, J. E. Wendler, R. E. Summons, and K.-U. Hinrichs Rapid Resurgence of Marine Productivity After the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction Science, October 2, 2009; 326(5949): 129 - 132. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Riding An atmospheric stimulus for cyanobacterial-bioinduced calcification ca. 350 million years ago? Palaios, October 1, 2009; 24(10): 685 - 696. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. J. Butterfield Macroevolutionary turnover through the Ediacaran transition: ecological and biogeochemical implications Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2009; 326(1): 55 - 66. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. G. MacLeod, E. E. Martin, and S. W. Blair Nd isotopic excursion across Cretaceous ocean anoxic event 2 (Cenomanian-Turonian) in the tropical North Atlantic Geology, October 1, 2008; 36(10): 811 - 814. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. E. Rashby, A. L. Sessions, R. E. Summons, and D. K. Newman Biosynthesis of 2-methylbacteriohopanepolyols by an anoxygenic phototroph PNAS, September 18, 2007; 104(38): 15099 - 15104. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Tremolada, E. Erba, and T. J. Bralower A review of calcareous nannofossil changes during the early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: The influence of fertility, temperature, and pCO2 Geological Society of America Special Papers, January 1, 2007; 424(0): 87 - 96. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Dumitrescu, S. C. Brassell, S. Schouten, E. C. Hopmans, and J. S. S. Damste Instability in tropical Pacific sea-surface temperatures during the early Aptian Geology, October 1, 2006; 34(10): 833 - 836. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. R. Saltzman Phosphorus, nitrogen, and the redox evolution of the Paleozoic oceans Geology, July 1, 2005; 33(7): 573 - 576. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]