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Redfield revisited: 2. What regulates the oxygen content of the atmosphere?
Open accessAbstract
The continuous charcoal record, interpreted with the aid of the results of combustion experiments, indicates that the mixing ratio of atmospheric oxygen has varied remarkably little over the past 350 Myr. We develop a dynamic feedback model of the coupled P, N, C, and O 2 cycles and use perturbation analysis and a case study of the past 40 Myr to test various feedback mechanisms that have been proposed to stabilize atmospheric oxygen. These mechanisms involve alterations in nutrient driven productivity and the subsequent burial flux of organic carbon, which provides the main source of atmospheric oxygen. Suppression of the burial of phosphorus sorbed to iron minerals under anoxic conditions in ocean bottom waters tends to increase the ocean nutrient inventory and provide negative feedback against declining oxygen [Holland, 1994]. However, denitrification is enhanced by anoxia, tending to reduce the nutrient inventory and amplify declining oxygen [Lenton and Watson, this issue]. If organic phosphorus removal from the ocean is also suppressed under anoxic conditions, this improves oxygen regulation [Van Cappellen and Ingall, 1994], as does direct enhancement of organic carbon burial due to reduced oxygen concentration in bottom waters [Betts and Holland, 1991]. However, all of the ocean‐based feedback mechanisms cease to operate under increases in oxygen that remove anoxia from the ocean. Fire frequency is extremely sensitive to increases in oxygen above 21% of the atmosphere, readily suppressing vegetation on the land surface. This should transfer phosphorus from the land to the ocean, causing less carbon to be buried per unit of phosphorus and providing a weak negative feedback on oxygen [Kump, 1988]. However, a new proposal that increases in oxygen suppress the biological amplification of rock weathering and hence the input of phosphorus to the Earth system provides the most effective oxygen regulation of all the mechanisms considered. A range of proxies suggests that the input of available phosphorus to the ocean may have been significantly reduced 40 Myr ago, suppressing new production and organic carbon burial in the model. With only ocean‐based feedback, the atmospheric oxygen reservoir is predicted to have shrunk from ∼26% of the atmosphere 40 Myr ago. However, when land plant mediated negative feedback on phosphorus weathering is added, oxygen is regulated within 19–21% of the atmosphere throughout the past 40 Myr, in a manner more consistent with paleorecords.
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“Models for Phanerozoic oxygen regulation1128 tend to focus on strong negative feedbacks on organic carbon burial29 (that is, that the production rate of oxygen decreases as oxygen rises), and any negative feedback on oxidative weathering is estimated to be relatively weak3031 (or non-existent2832).”
From Atmospheric oxygen regulation at low Proterozoic levels by incomplete oxidative weathering of sedimentary organic carbon (2017) · cites this paper as [29]
In the citing paper
“However, plants and their associated mycorrhizal fungi can increase phosphorus weathering (20 -22), and this could be sustained on longer timescales if they preferentially weather phosphorus relative to alkalinity.”
From Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen (2016) · cites this paper as [22]
In the citing paper
“new fire-mediated negative feedbacks on O2 were instigated that have played a key role in stabilizing atmospheric O2 concentration up to the present day (22, 43).”
From Earliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen (2016) · cites this paper as [22]
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“Although a significant assumption, this value is in accord with other predictions of the theoretical Phanerozoic maximu”
ResultCOPSE reloaded: An improved model of biogeochemical cycling over Phanerozoic time
Lenton, T. M., Daines, S. J., & Mills, B. J. W. (2018) · Earth-Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.12.004 · Cited by 350
“A more uncertain upper limit on O2 of 25-49 35% has been inferred from the sensitivity of fire frequency to increasing O2 and the continuous 50 presence of forests over the past ~370 Myr (Glasspool and Scott, 2010; Lenton and Watson, 2000b).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSelf-citationEarliest land plants created modern levels of atmospheric oxygen
Lenton, T. M., Dahl, T. W., Daines, S. J., Mills, B. J. W., Ozaki, K., Saltzman, M. R., & Porada, P. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1604787113 · Cited by 343
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“It is of interest that oxygenation of the biosphere decreased phosphorus availability, as a result of the production of Fe(III) which binds phosphate (Holland 1978, Lenton and Watson 2000), at the same time as phosphorus requirements for oxygen-sensitive reactions (Table 3) increased.”
BackgroundCatling, D. C., Glein, C. R., Zahnle, K. J., & McKay, C. P. (2005) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2005.5.415 · Cited by 307
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“Kump (1988) and Lenton & Watson (2000) have emphasized fire as a negative feedback mechanism by perturbing the phosphorus cycle.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialRedfield revisited: 1. Regulation of nitrate, phosphate, and oxygen in the ocean
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Self-citationBelcher, C. M., Yearsley, J. M., Hadden, R. M., McElwain, J. C., & Rein, G. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1011974107 · Cited by 204
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“There are parallels in the time-dependent representation of biogeochemical processes in the model presented here and that of Lenton and Watson (2000a, 2000b) who also considered the coupling between carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and oxygen cycling.”
MethodMills, B. J. W., Krause, A. J., Scotese, C. R., Hill, D. J., Shields, G., & Lenton, T. M. (2018) · Gondwana Research · doi:10.1016/j.gr.2018.12.001 · Cited by 188
Self-citationNutrient ratios and fluxes hint at overlooked processes in the Mediterranean Sea
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“However, it may be a significant short-term feedback mechanism, though Lenton and Watson (2000) suggested that in the long term increases in oxygen are counteracted by reductions in phosphorous weathering flux and organic carbon burial and via versa.”
BackgroundUranium isotopes distinguish two geochemically distinct stages during the later Cambrian SPICE event
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“On a time scale of millions of years, its partial pressure (pO2) is determined by regulatory feedback mechanisms (Holland, 1978), but the nature and action of these mechanisms in the Phanerozoic (past 550 Ma) remain areas of extensive debate (Robinson, 1989; Berner, 2001; Lenton and Watson, 2000).”
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“Oxygen concentration could have dropped later thanks to a peak of wildfires in an oxygen-rich environment [28,29], and to the evolution of enzymes to break down the lignin in decomposers [69].”
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“Low f ratios mean less organic carbon burial, and imply relatively lower rates of oxygen release to the surface environment [Holland, 1984; Lenton and Watson, 2000 ].”
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“Fire behavior in the Cretaceous is difficult to reconstruct from modern analogues, however, because ignition of fuel (Lenton and Watson 2000; Wildman et al. 2004; Belcher and McElwain 2008) and subsequent fire spread (Belcher et al. 2010) are very sensitive to changes in atmospheric oxygen.”
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“…enhanced rock weathering (Zeebe and Caldeira, 2008); the maintenance of O2 partial pressures below 30% through methaneproducing microbes (Lenton and Watson, 2000; Berner et al., 2003); climate regulation through cloud-albedo control linked to algal gas emissions (Charlson et al., 1987);…”
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“COPSE is an extension of the GEOCARB [Berner, 1991, 2006a] models that employs a processbased representation of the marine and terrestrial biosphere [Lenton and Watson, 2000] to calculate organic fluxes of carbon and sulphur over Phanerozoic time.”
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“Increasing the flux of P into the ocean has a dramatic effect upon marine productivity and carbon burial, which acts as a significant feedback for oxygen levels in the atmosphere (Kump, 1988; Lenton and Watson, 2000).”
BackgroundDodd, M. S., Zhang, Z., Li, C., Algeo, T. J., Lyons, T. W., Hardisty, D. S., Loyd, S. J., Meyer, D. L., Gill, B. C., Shi, W., et al. (2021) · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.gca.2021.02.038 · Cited by 54
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Lenton, T. M., & Wilkinson, D. M. (2003) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1023/a:1023498212441 · Cited by 51
Self-citationInteractions of Earth's atmospheric oxygen and fuel moisture in smouldering wildfires
Huang, X., & Rein, G. (2016) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.201 · Cited by 51
Dale, A. W., Boyle, R. A., Lenton, T. M., Ingall, E. D., & Wallmann, K. (2016) · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.gca.2016.05.046 · Cited by 48
“…control on sedimentary P burial 116 in global models of ancient oceans is traditionally assumed to be the O2 availability rather than 117 bioturbation per se, with any mechanistic linkage with bioturbation being merely implicit (Van 118 Cappellen and Ingall, 1994; 1996; Lenton and Watson, 2000).”
BackgroundSelf-citationBiogeochemical changes across the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition in South China
Shields, G., & Zhu, M. (2012) · Precambrian Research · doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2012.10.011 · Cited by 40
Fundamental Processes in Ecology
Wilkinson, D. M. (2006) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198568469.001.0001 · Cited by 91
Taillardat, P., Ziegler, A. D., Friess, D. A., et al. (2019) · Marine Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2019.103662 · Cited by 39
Marine organic carbon burial increased forest fire frequency during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
Boudinot, F. G., & Sepúlveda, J. (2020) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/s41561-020-0633-y · Cited by 38
Limited Carbon Cycle Response to Increased Sulfide Weathering Due to Oxygen Feedback
Maffre, P., Swanson‐Hysell, N. L., & Goddéris, Y. (2021) · Geophysical Research Letters · doi:10.1029/2021gl094589 · Cited by 40
Zhao, C., Zhang, K., Xiao, L., Uhl, D., Shi, Z., Zhao, W., Zhao, Q., Sun, Y., & Liu, B. (2023) · Chemical Geology · doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2023.121677 · Cited by 36
Petsch, S. T. (2003) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b0-08-043751-6/08159-7 · Cited by 38
Fire Feedbacks on Atmospheric Oxygen
Lenton, T. M. (2013) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118529539.ch15 · Cited by 38
Self-citationEffects of atmospheric oxygen on horizontal peat smoldering fires: Experimental and numerical study
Yang, J., Liu, N., Chen, H., et al. (2018) · Proceedings of the Combustion Institute · doi:10.1016/j.proci.2018.06.218 · Cited by 37
Belcher, C. M., Mills, B. J. W., Vitali, R., Baker, S. J., Lenton, T. M., & Watson, A. J. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20772-2 · Cited by 39
Self-citationBiogeochemical Controls on the Redox Evolution of Earth’s Oceans and Atmosphere
Reinhard, C. T., & Planavsky, N. J. (2020) · Elements · doi:10.2138/gselements.16.3.191 · Cited by 35
“In reality, the throughput of bioavailable phosphorus fundamentally controls the ocean–atmosphere O2 abundance at steady state (Lenton and Watson 2000), while ocean redox state controls the recycling and bioavailability of phosphorus in marine systems (Van Cappellen and Ingall 1994; Reinhard et al.…”
BackgroundThe coupled evolution of life and atmospheric oxygen
Lenton, T. M. (2003) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-012598655-7/50030-6 · Cited by 36
“Stabilizing mechanisms ( Lenton and Watson, 2000 ) that could have regulated oxygen close to 21% of the atmosphere throughout the past 350Myr are discussed further in section 3.6.”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationThe deep history of Earth's biomass
McMahon, S., & Parnell, J. (2018) · Journal of the Geological Society · doi:10.1144/jgs2018-061 · Cited by 36
“Somewhat higher values may have obtained in Earth’s history (e.g. during the Carboniferous), but the negative feedback effect of increased forest fires under higher atmospheric oxygen concentrations would not allow global plant biomass to rise much further (Lenton & Watson 2000).”
BackgroundBoyle, R. A., Dahl, T. W., Bjerrum, C. J., & Canfield, D. E. (2018) · Geobiology · doi:10.1111/gbi.12277 · Cited by 33
“In order to produce meaningful estimates of limiting nutrient concentrations, we use a box model of the coupled oxygen and phosphorus cycles (Lenton & Watson, 2000, also see Van Capellen & Ingall, 1994).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialBiogeochemistry of Primary Production in the Sea
Falkowski, P. G. (2003) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b0-08-043751-6/08129-9 · Cited by 35
Wang, S., Shao, L., Li, J., Li, J., Jones, T. P., Zhu, M., & Zhou, J. (2021) · Cretaceous Research · doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104815 · Cited by 28
Han, Q., Liu, J., Hower, J. C., Moore, T. A., Shang, N., Zhao, S., Jia, R., & Dai, S. (2023) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111972 · Cited by 28
Nutrient acquisition by symbiotic fungi governs Palaeozoic climate transition
Mills, B. J. W., Batterman, S. A., & Field, K. J. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0503 · Cited by 28
Wang, D., Yin, L., Shao, L., Lyu, D.-W., Liu, H., Wang, S., & Dong, G. (2021) · Journal of Palaeogeography · doi:10.1186/s42501-021-00090-4 · Cited by 25
“Lenton and Watson (2000) determined that an inertinite abundance of 44.4% was related to a pO2 of 30%.”
BackgroundInfluentialVitali, R., Belcher, C. M., Kaplan, J. O., & Watson, A. J. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35081-z · Cited by 25
Self-citationThe Dependence of Flame Spread and Probability of Ignition on Atmospheric Oxygen
Watson, A. J., & Lovelock, J. E. (2013) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118529539.ch14 · Cited by 24
Self-citationInertinite in coal and its geoenvironmental significance: Insights from AI and big data analysis
Shao, L., Zhou, J., Jones, T. P., Hua, F., Xu, X., Yan, Z., Hou, H., Wang, D., & Lu, J. (2024) · Science China Earth Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11430-023-1325-5 · Cited by 24
“So, regional marine environmental changes may be related to frequent and strong wildfires (Lenton and Watson, 2000).”
Kim, J. Y., Bhatta, K. S., Rastogi, G., et al. (2016) · Ecological Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.01.053 · Cited by 24
The search for habitable planets with biosignature gases framed by a ‘Biosignature Drake Equation’
Seager, S. (2017) · International Journal of Astrobiology · doi:10.1017/s1473550417000052 · Cited by 23
“Lenton & Watson (2000) give the expected range of O2 to be between 18 and 25%.”
BackgroundPossible Atmospheric Diversity of Low Mass Exoplanets – Some Central Aspects
Grenfell, J. L., Leconte, J., Forget, F., Godolt, M., Carrión-González, Ó., Noack, L., Tian, F., Rauer, H., Gaillard, F., Bolmont, É., et al. (2020) · Space Science Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11214-020-00716-4 · Cited by 27
“Earlier, mainly box model studies have investigated O2 evolution over geological timescales on Earth (see Lenton and Watson 2000; Berner 2001).”
BackgroundShields, G. (2016) · Special Publications · doi:10.1144/sp448.17 · Cited by 26
Biodiversity and Global Change
Lenton, T. M. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108668675.005 · Cited by 23
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Lenton, T. M., & Watson, A. J.
- Affiliations
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- Venue
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2000-03
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 249-268
- ISSN
- 0886-6236 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-9224
- OpenAlex
- W2103585008
- Semantic Scholar
- aad3de7f8e842bc1997d2ec2c1b20fda6c4135f3
- Cited by
- 192
- References
- 94
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 8.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles (publishedVersion)
- UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- Redfield ratio, oxygenation of Earth, phosphorus cycling, denitrification, organic carbon burial, anoxia, iron phosphate, rock weathering, fire frequency, nutrient limitation, paleo-oxygenation, feedback mechanisms
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