The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2011 Atmospheric nitrous oxide N2O concentrations have been rising steadily for the past century as a result of h...
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2011
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/4735 2023-05-15T18:20:58+02:00 The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide Frame, Caitlin H. South Atlantic Ocean 2011-06 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4735 en_US eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4735 doi:10.1575/1912/4735 doi:10.1575/1912/4735 Nitrification Biogeochemistry Knorr (Ship : 1970-) Cruise KN192-05 Thesis 2011 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/4735 2022-05-28T22:58:25Z Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2011 Atmospheric nitrous oxide N2O concentrations have been rising steadily for the past century as a result of human activities. In particular, human perturbation of the nitrogen cycle has increased the N2O production rates of the two major sources of this greenhouse gas, soil and the ocean. Nitrification, and particularly ammonia oxidation, is one of the major processes that produces N2O in the ocean. In this thesis, a series of stable isotopic methods have been used to characterize the biogeochemical controls on N2O production by marine nitrification as well as the natural abundance stable isotopic signatures of N2O produced by marine nitrifiers. This thesis shows that in addition to chemical controls on N2O production rates such as oxygen (O2) and nitrite (NO-2) concentrations, there are also biological controls such as nitrifier cell abundances and coastal phytoplankton blooms that may influence N2O production by ammonia oxidizers as well. Ammonia oxidizers can produce N2O through two separate biochemical mechanisms that have unique isotopic signatures. Using culture- based measurements of these signatures, we conclude that one of these pathways, nitrifier- denitrification, may be a significant source of N2O produced in the South Atlantic Ocean and possibly the global ocean. Funding for this work was provided by NSF/OCE 05-26277, the Andrew W. Mellon Founda- tion Awards for Innovative Research, the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Technology Innovation Awards, and the W. M. Keck Foundation. Thesis South Atlantic Ocean Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Ida ENVELOPE(170.483,170.483,-83.583,-83.583) Woods Hole, MA |
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Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
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language |
English |
topic |
Nitrification Biogeochemistry Knorr (Ship : 1970-) Cruise KN192-05 |
spellingShingle |
Nitrification Biogeochemistry Knorr (Ship : 1970-) Cruise KN192-05 Frame, Caitlin H. The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
topic_facet |
Nitrification Biogeochemistry Knorr (Ship : 1970-) Cruise KN192-05 |
description |
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2011 Atmospheric nitrous oxide N2O concentrations have been rising steadily for the past century as a result of human activities. In particular, human perturbation of the nitrogen cycle has increased the N2O production rates of the two major sources of this greenhouse gas, soil and the ocean. Nitrification, and particularly ammonia oxidation, is one of the major processes that produces N2O in the ocean. In this thesis, a series of stable isotopic methods have been used to characterize the biogeochemical controls on N2O production by marine nitrification as well as the natural abundance stable isotopic signatures of N2O produced by marine nitrifiers. This thesis shows that in addition to chemical controls on N2O production rates such as oxygen (O2) and nitrite (NO-2) concentrations, there are also biological controls such as nitrifier cell abundances and coastal phytoplankton blooms that may influence N2O production by ammonia oxidizers as well. Ammonia oxidizers can produce N2O through two separate biochemical mechanisms that have unique isotopic signatures. Using culture- based measurements of these signatures, we conclude that one of these pathways, nitrifier- denitrification, may be a significant source of N2O produced in the South Atlantic Ocean and possibly the global ocean. Funding for this work was provided by NSF/OCE 05-26277, the Andrew W. Mellon Founda- tion Awards for Innovative Research, the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Technology Innovation Awards, and the W. M. Keck Foundation. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Frame, Caitlin H. |
author_facet |
Frame, Caitlin H. |
author_sort |
Frame, Caitlin H. |
title |
The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
title_short |
The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
title_full |
The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
title_fullStr |
The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
title_full_unstemmed |
The biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
title_sort |
biogeochemistry of marine nitrous oxide |
publisher |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4735 |
op_coverage |
South Atlantic Ocean |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(170.483,170.483,-83.583,-83.583) |
geographic |
Ida |
geographic_facet |
Ida |
genre |
South Atlantic Ocean |
genre_facet |
South Atlantic Ocean |
op_source |
doi:10.1575/1912/4735 |
op_relation |
WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4735 doi:10.1575/1912/4735 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/4735 |
op_publisher_place |
Woods Hole, MA |
_version_ |
1766199944546353152 |