By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Life Science Weekly -- The amount of biomass - life - in Earth’s ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the University of Washington and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
The research, published online Nov. 22 in the journal Science Advances, also comments on the role of volcanism in supporting Earth’s early biosphere -- and may even apply to the search for life on other worlds.
The paper’s lead author is Michael Kipp, a UW doctoral student in Earth and space sciences; coauthor is Eva Stueken, a research fellow at the University of St. Andrews and former UW postdoctoral researcher. Roger Buick, UW professor of Earth and space sciences, advised the researchers.
Their aim, Kipp said, was to use theoretical modeling to study how ocean phosphorus levels have changed …
CITATION: (2017-12-12), Less life: Limited phosphorus recycling suppressed early Earth’s biosphere, Life Science Weekly, 591, ISSN: 1552-2474, BUTTER® ID: 014822305
From the newsletter Life Science Weekly.
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