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Volcanic source for fixed nitrogen in the early Earth's atmosphere

¹ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
² University of Birmingham, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

Hot volcanic vents promote the thermal fixation of atmospheric N₂ into biologically available forms. The importance of this process for the global nitrogen cycle is poorly understood. At Masaya volcano, Nicaragua, NO and NO₂ are intimately associated with volcanic aerosol, such that NO_x levels reach as much as an order of magnitude above local background. In-plume HNO₃ concentrations are elevated above background to an even greater extent (50 µmol·m^–3). We estimate the production efficiency of fixed nitrogen at hot vents to be 3 x 10^–8 mol·J^–1, implying present-day global production of 10⁹ mol of fixed N per year. Although conversion efficiency would have been lower in a preoxygenated atmosphere, we suggest that subaerial volcanoes potentially constituted an important source of fixed nitrogen in the early Earth, producing as much as 10¹¹ mol·yr^–1 of fixed N during major episodes of volcanism. These fluxes are comparable to estimated nitrogen-fixation rates in the prebiotic Earth from other major sources such as bolide impacts and thunderstorm and volcanic lightning.

Key Words: nitrogen cycle • volcanic gases • Masaya volcano (Nicaragua) • atmospheric evolution

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