Rainfall limit of the N cycle on Earth

  1. Stephanie A. Ewing1,9,
  2. Greg Michalski2,
  3. Mark Thiemens3,
  4. Richard C. Quinn4,
  5. Jennifer L. Macalady5,
  6. Steven Kohl6,
  7. Scott D. Wankel7,10,
  8. Carol Kendall7,
  9. Christopher P. McKay8,
  10. Ronald Amundson1

Article first published online: 8 AUG 2007

DOI: 10.1029/2006GB002838

Issue

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Volume 21, Issue 3, September 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Ewing, S. A., G. Michalski, M. Thiemens, R. C. Quinn, J. L. Macalady, S. Kohl, S. D. Wankel, C. Kendall, C. P. McKay, and R. Amundson (2007), Rainfall limit of the N cycle on Earth, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 21, GB3009, doi:10.1029/2006GB002838.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Division of Ecosystem Sciences, Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

  2. 2

    Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

  3. 3

    Division of Physical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

  4. 4

    SETI Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA

  5. 5

    Penn State Astrobiology Research Center, Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

  6. 6

    Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada, USA

  7. 7

    U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, USA

  8. 8

    NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA

  9. 9

    Now at Center of Isotope Geochemistry, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.

  10. 10

    Now at Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 8 AUG 2007
  2. Article first published online: 8 AUG 2007
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 23 MAY 2007
  4. Manuscript Revised: 6 APR 2007
  5. Manuscript Received: 9 SEP 2006

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[1] In most climates on Earth, biological processes control soil N. In the Atacama Desert of Chile, aridity severely limits biology, and soils accumulate atmospheric NO3−. We examined this apparent transformation of the soil N cycle using a series of ancient Atacama Desert soils (>2 My) that vary in rainfall (21 to <2 mm yr−1). With decreasing rainfall, soil organic C decreases to 0.3 kg C m−2 and biological activity becomes minimal, while soil NO3− and organic N increase to 4 kg N m−2 and 1.4 kg N m−2, respectively. Atmospheric NO3− (Δ17O = 23.0‰) increases from 39% to 80% of total soil NO3− as rainfall decreases. These soils capture the transition from a steady state, biologically mediated soil N cycle to a dominantly abiotic, transient state of slowly accumulating atmospheric N. This transition suggests that oxidized soil N may be present in an even more arid and abiotic environment: Mars.

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