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Cited by 73Paleontology and Stratigraphy of FossilsEarth Systems and Cosmic EvolutionAstro and Planetary Science

Modeling p N 2 through Geological Time: Implications for Planetary Climates and Atmospheric Biosignatures

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Stüeken, E.E., Kipp, M.A., Koehler, M.C., Schwieterman, E.W., Johnson, B., Buick, R.·2016·Astrobiology
DOI 10.1089/ast.2016.1537
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Abstract

Nitrogen is a major nutrient for all life on Earth and could plausibly play a similar role in extraterrestrial biospheres. The major reservoir of nitrogen at Earth's surface is atmospheric N 2 , but recent studies have proposed that the size of this reservoir may have fluctuated significantly over the course of Earth's history with particularly low levels in the Neoarchean—presumably as a result of biological activity. We used a biogeochemical box model to test which conditions are necessary to cause large swings in atmospheric N 2 pressure. Parameters for our model are constrained by observations of modern Earth and reconstructions of biomass burial and oxidative weathering in deep time. A 1-D climate model was used to model potential effects on atmospheric climate. In a second set of tests, we perturbed our box model to investigate which parameters have the greatest impact on the evolution of atmospheric p N 2 and consider possible implications for nitrogen cycling on other planets. Our results suggest that (a) a high rate of biomass burial would have been needed in the Archean to draw down atmospheric p N 2 to less than half modern levels, (b) the resulting effect on temperature could probably have been compensated by increasing solar luminosity and a mild increase in p CO 2 , and (c) atmospheric oxygenation could have initiated a stepwise p N 2 rebound through oxidative weathering. In general, life appears to be necessary for significant atmospheric p N 2 swings on Earth-like planets. Our results further support the idea that an exoplanetary atmosphere rich in both N 2 and O 2 is a signature of an oxygen-producing biosphere. Key Words: Biosignatures—Early Earth—Planetary atmospheres. Astrobiology 16, 949–963.

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  • The rate of organic burial must have been relatively high for a time-integrated loss to affect pN2 significantly.

    “The rate of organic burial must have been relatively high for a time-integrated loss to affect pN2 significantly (150), which is not necessarily inconsistent with carbon isotopic constraints because early high degassing of carbon required more carbon to be buried (130).”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [150]

    The biogeochemical nitrogen box model (p. 3) treats organic burial as the principal nitrogen sink from the atmosphere, and Figure 2 (p. 4) models pN2 under different burial histories. These passages support a link between burial and pN2, but they do not establish that a relatively high organic-burial rate was necessary for a time-integrated loss to affect pN2 significantly. (LLM, conf=0.74)

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  • These data have been used to argue that Archean N2 was sequestered into solid phases after an early advent of biological nitrogen fixation.

    “Marine phyllosilicates at 3.8 Ga ago are ammonium enriched (146, 147), which probably came from porewater ammonium (NH4+) derived from degraded organics (Table 1) (148, 149), and these data have been used to argue that Archean N2 was sequestered into solid phases after an early advent of biological nitrogen fixation (56, 150).”

    From The Archean atmosphere (2020) · cites this paper as [150]

    Section 2.1 (p. 3) models nitrogen burial through biomass burial as a sink of atmospheric nitrogen, supporting the general idea of sequestration in sediments. It does not connect that sink to the cited 3.8 Ga phyllosilicate data or argue that sequestration followed an early advent of biological nitrogen fixation; it explicitly says the model neglects the origin of biological nitrogen metabolisms. (LLM, conf=0.68)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Hargraves, R.B. (1986) Faster spreading or greater ridge length in the Archean? Geology 14(9): 750-752.
  2. Kerrick, D.M. (2001) Present and past nonanthropogenic CO2 degassing from the solid Earth. Reviews of Geophysics 39(4): 565-585.
  3. Manabe, S. and Wetherald, R. (1967) Thermal equilibrium of the atmosphere with a given distribution of relative humidity. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences 24: 241-259.

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Authors
Stüeken, E. E., Kipp, M. A., Koehler, M. C., Schwieterman, E. W., Johnson, B., & Buick, R.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Riverside (US)
  • NASA Astrobiology Institute (US)
  • University of Victoria (CA)
Corresponding author
Stüeken, E.E.
ORCID
Venue
Astrobiology
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2016-12
Volume
16
Issue
12
Pages
949-963
ISSN
  • 1531-1074 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-8070
DOI
10.1089/ast.2016.1537
OpenAlex
W2559643777
Cited by
73
References
152
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1
FWCI
7.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Astrobiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • St Andrews Research Repository (St Andrews Research Repository) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
Keywords
Archean, Neoarchean, oxidative weathering, atmospheric oxygenation, early Earth climate, planetary atmospheres, biosignatures, exoplanet atmospheres, solar luminosity
MeSH terms
Aerobiosis, Anaerobiosis, Atmosphere, Carbon, Climate, Geology, Models, Theoretical, Nitrogen, Time Factors, Earth, Planet, Exobiology

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