Highlight articles

Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane?

Atmospheric methane has risen rapidly since 2008 and has become more depleted in ¹³C, in contrast to the trend towards more ¹³C enrichment in the late 20th century. Many have used this isotopic evidence to infer an increased biogenic source. Here I analyze the ¹³C trend with the consideration that methane from shale gas is somewhat depleted in ¹³C compared to other fossil fuels. I conclude that shale gas may be responsible for a third of the global increase from all sources.

Global soil–climate–biome diagram: linking surface soil properties to climate and biota

Surface soils interact strongly with both climate and biota and provide fundamental ecosystem services. However, the quantitative linkages between soil, climate, and biota remain unclear at a global scale. By compiling a large global soil database, we mapped eight major soil properties based on machine learning algorithms and developed a global soil–climate–biome diagram. Our results suggest shifts in soil properties under global climate and land cover change.

Dissolved organic matter at the fluvial–marine transition in the Laptev Sea using in situ data and ocean colour remote sensing

In this article, we present the variability and characteristics of dissolved organic matter at the fluvial–marine transition in the Laptev Sea from a unique dataset collected during 11 Arctic expeditions. We develop a new relationship between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and coloured dissolved organic matter absorption, which is used to estimate surface water DOC concentration from space. We believe that our findings help current efforts to monitor ongoing changes in the Arctic carbon cycle.

Responses of an abyssal meiobenthic community to short-term burial with crushed nodule particles in the south-east Pacific

To elucidate the potential effects of crushed nodule particle deposition on abyssal meiobenthos, we covered abyssal soft sediment in the Peru Basin (4200 m depth) with approximately 2 cm of this nodule material for 11 d. About half of the meiobenthos migrated from the sediment into the added material, and nematode feeding type proportions in that added layer were altered. These results considerably contribute to our understanding of the short-term responses of deep-sea meiobenthos to burial.

Reciprocal bias compensation and ensuing uncertainties in model-based climate projections: pelagic biogeochemistry versus ocean mixing

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions trigger complex climate feedbacks. Output form Earth system models provides a basis for related political decision-making. One challenge is to arrive at reliable model parameter estimates for the ocean biogeochemistry module. We illustrate pitfalls through which flaws in the ocean module are masked by wrongly tuning the biogeochemistry and discuss ensuing uncertainties in climate projections.

Terrainbento 1.0: a Python package for multi-model analysis in long-term drainage basin evolution

Terrainbento 1.0 is a Python package for modeling the evolution of the surface of the Earth over geologic time (e.g., thousands to millions of years). Despite many decades of effort by the geomorphology community, there is no one established governing equation for the evolution of topography. Terrainbento 1.0 thus provides 28 alternative models that support hypothesis testing and multi-model analysis in landscape evolution.

Devito (v3.1.0): an embedded domain-specific language for finite differences and geophysical exploration

This paper presents Devito, a Python-based software. The aim of this software is to provide a high-level simple interface to users for the description and discretization of the mathematical definition of the physics. This research initially started as an attempt to improve research time, portability, and performance in exploration geophysics. We present the latest version of the software that is already making an impact in academics and industry.

Carbon cycling in the North American coastal ocean: a synthesis

We review and synthesize available information on coastal ocean carbon fluxes around North America (NA). There is overwhelming evidence, compiled and discussed here, that the NA coastal margins act as a sink. Our synthesis shows the great diversity in processes driving carbon fluxes in different coastal regions, highlights remaining gaps in observations and models, and discusses current and anticipated future trends with respect to carbon fluxes and acidification.

On the role of soil water retention characteristic on aerobic microbial respiration

Soil water is a medium from which microbes acquire resources and within which they are able to move. Occupancy and availability of water and oxygen gas in soils are mutually exclusive. In addition, as soil dries the remaining water is held with an increasing degree of adhesive energy, which restricts microbes’ ability to extract resources from water. We introduce a mathematical model that describes these interacting effects and organic matter decomposition.

The Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM) v1.1

Mountain glaciers are one of the few remaining subsystems of the global climate system for which no globally applicable community-driven model exists. Here we present the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM; www.oggm.org), developed to provide a modular and open-source numerical model framework for simulating past and future change of any glacier in the world.

BG Biogeosciences Highlight articles

Highlight articles

Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane?

Global soil–climate–biome diagram: linking surface soil properties to climate and biota

Dissolved organic matter at the fluvial–marine transition in the Laptev Sea using in situ data and ocean colour remote sensing

Responses of an abyssal meiobenthic community to short-term burial with crushed nodule particles in the south-east Pacific

Reciprocal bias compensation and ensuing uncertainties in model-based climate projections: pelagic biogeochemistry versus ocean mixing

Terrainbento 1.0: a Python package for multi-model analysis in long-term drainage basin evolution

Devito (v3.1.0): an embedded domain-specific language for finite differences and geophysical exploration

Carbon cycling in the North American coastal ocean: a synthesis

On the role of soil water retention characteristic on aerobic microbial respiration

The Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM) v1.1

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