1. Phosphorus as an integral component of global marine biogeochemistry
- Author
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Solange Duhamel, Jamee C. Adams, Kahina Djaoudi, Emily M. Waggoner, Julia M. Diaz, and Viktoria Steck
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Surface ocean ,Earth science ,Phosphorus ,Redox cycle ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Biogeochemistry ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,01 natural sciences ,Ecosystem structure ,chemistry ,13. Climate action ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Environmental science ,Marine ecosystem ,14. Life underwater ,Phosphorus cycle ,Marine productivity ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is essential for life, but most of the global surface ocean is P depleted, which can limit marine productivity and affect ecosystem structure. Over recent decades, a wealth of new knowledge has revolutionized our understanding of the marine P cycle. With a revised residence time (~10–20 kyr) that is similar to nitrate and a growing awareness that P transformations are under tight and elaborate microbial control, the classic textbook version of a tectonically slow and biogeochemically simple marine P cycle has become outdated. P moves throughout the world’s oceans with a higher level of complexity than has ever been appreciated before, including a vast, yet poorly understood, P redox cycle. Here, we illustrate an oceanographically integral view of marine P by reviewing recent advances in the coupled cycles of P with carbon, nitrogen and metals in marine systems. Through this lens, P takes on a more dynamic and connected role in marine biogeochemistry than previously acknowledged, which points to unclear yet profound potential consequences for marine ecosystems, particularly under anthropogenic influence. Phosphorus plays a dynamic and complex role in marine biogeochemistry, which is closely connected to carbon, nitrogen and metal cycling, according to a literature synthesis on recent advances in understandings of the marine phosphorus cycle.
- Published
- 2021