Extreme enrichment in atmospheric 15N15N

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dc.citation.articleNumbereaao6741en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber11en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleScience Advancesen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber3en_US
dc.contributor.authorYeung, Laurence Y.en_US
dc.contributor.authorLi, Shuningen_US
dc.contributor.authorKohl, Issaku E.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHaslun, Joshua A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorOstrom, Nathaniel E.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHu, Huantingen_US
dc.contributor.authorFischer, Tobias P.en_US
dc.contributor.authorSchauble, Edwin A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorYoung, Edward D.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-19T15:24:09Zen_US
dc.date.available2017-12-19T15:24:09Zen_US
dc.date.issued2017en_US
dc.description.abstractMolecular nitrogen (N2) comprises three-quarters of Earth’s atmosphere and significant portions of other planetary atmospheres. We report a 19 per mil (‰) excess of 15N15N in air relative to a random distribution of nitrogen isotopes, an enrichment that is 10 times larger than what isotopic equilibration in the atmosphere allows. Biological experiments show that the main sources and sinks of N2 yield much smaller proportions of 15N15N in N2. Electrical discharge experiments, however, establish 15N15N excesses of up to +23‰. We argue that 15N15N accumulates in the atmosphere because of gas-phase chemistry in the thermosphere (>100 km altitude) on time scales comparable to those of biological cycling. The atmospheric 15N15N excess therefore reflects a planetary-scale balance of biogeochemical and atmospheric nitrogen chemistry, one that may also exist on other planets.en_US
dc.identifier.citationYeung, Laurence Y., Li, Shuning, Kohl, Issaku E., et al.. "Extreme enrichment in atmospheric 15N15N." <i>Science Advances,</i> 3, no. 11 (2017) AAAS: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao6741.en_US
dc.identifier.digitaleaao6741-fullen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao6741en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/98895en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherAAASen_US
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/en_US
dc.titleExtreme enrichment in atmospheric 15N15Nen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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