Deep-sea coral evidence for lower Southern Ocean surface nitrate concentrations during the last ice age

The Southern Ocean regulates the ocean’s biological sequestration of CO_2 and is widely suspected to underpin much of the ice age decline in atmospheric CO_2 concentration, but the specific changes in the region are debated. Although more complete drawdown of surface nutrients by phytoplankton during the ice ages is supported by some sediment core-based measurements, the use of different proxies in different regions has precluded a unified view of Southern Ocean biogeochemical change. Here, we report measurements of the ^(15)N/^(14)N of fossil-bound organic matter in the stony deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus, a tool for reconstructing surface ocean nutrient conditions. The central robust observation is of higher ^(15)N/^(14)N across the Southern Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 18–25 thousand years ago. These data suggest a reduced summer surface nitrate concentration in both the Antarctic and Subantarctic Zones during the LGM, with little surface nitrate transport between them. After the ice age, the increase in Antarctic surface nitrate occurred through the deglaciation and continued in the Holocene. The rise in Subantarctic surface nitrate appears to have had both early deglacial and late deglacial/Holocene components, preliminarily attributed to the end of Subantarctic iron fertilization and increasing nitrate input from the surface Antarctic Zone, respectively

Is hepatitis C virus elimination possible among people living with HIV and what will it take to achieve it?

Introduction The World Health Organization targets for hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination include a 90% reduction in new infections by 2030. Our objective is to review the modelling evidence and cost data surrounding feasibility of HCV elimination among people living with HIV (PLWH), and identify likely components for elimination. We also discuss the real‐world experience of HCV direct acting antiviral (DAA) scale‐up and elimination efforts in the Netherlands. Methods We review modelling evidence of what intervention scale‐up is required to achieve WHO HCV elimination targets among HIV‐infected (HIV+) people who inject drugs (PWID) and men who have sex with men (MSM), review cost‐effectiveness of HCV therapy among PLWH and discuss economic implications of elimination. We additionally use the real‐world experience of DAA scale‐up in the Netherlands to illustrate the promise and potential challenges of HCV elimination strategies in MSM. Finally, we summarize key components of the HCV elimination response among PWLH. Results and discussion Modelling indicates HCV elimination among HIV+ MSM and PWID is potentially achievable but requires combination treatment and either harm reduction or behavioural risk reductions. Preliminary modelling indicates elimination among HIV+ PWID will require elimination efforts among PWID more broadly. Treatment for PLWH and high‐risk populations (PWID and MSM) is cost‐effective in high‐income countries, but costs of DAAs remain a barrier to scale‐up worldwide despite the potential low production price ($50 per 12 week course). In the Netherlands, universal DAA availability led to rapid uptake among HIV+ MSM in 2015/16, and a 50% reduction in acute HCV incidence among HIV+ MSM from 2014 to 2016 was observed. In addition to HCV treatment, elimination among PLWH globally also likely requires regular HCV testing, development of low‐cost accurate HCV diagnostics, reduced costs of DAA therapy, broad treatment access without restrictions, close monitoring for HCV reinfection and retreatment, and harm reduction and/or behavioural interventions. Conclusions Achieving WHO HCV Elimination targets is potentially achievable among HIV‐infected populations. Among HIV+ PWID, it likely requires HCV treatment scale‐up combined with harm reduction for both HIV+ and HIV‐ populations. Among HIV+ MSM, elimination likely requires both HCV treatment and behaviour risk reduction among the HIV+ MSM pop

The isotope effect of nitrate assimilation in the Antarctic Zone: Improved estimates and paleoceanographic implications

Both the nitrogen (N) isotopic composition (δ^(15)N) of the nitrate source and the magnitude of isotope discrimination associated with nitrate assimilation are required to estimate the degree of past nitrate consumption from the δ^(15)N of organic matter in Southern Ocean sediments (e.g., preserved within diatom microfossils). It has been suggested that the amplitude of isotope discrimination (i.e. the isotope effect) correlates with mixed layer depth, driven by a physiological response of phytoplankton to light availability, which introduces complexity to the interpretation of sedimentary records. However, most of the isotope effectestimates that underpin this hypothesis derive from acid-preserved water samples, from which nitrite would have been volatilized and lost during storage. Nitrite δ^(15)N in Antarctic Zone surface waters is extremely low (−61 ± 20‰), consistent with the expression of an equilibrium isotope effect associated with nitrate–nitrite interconversion. Its loss from the combined nitrate + nitrite pool would act to raise the δ^(15)N of nitrate, potentially yielding overestimation of the isotope effect. Here, we revisit the nitrate assimilation isotope effect in the Antarctic Zone with measurements of the δ^(15)N and concentration of nitrate with and without nitrite, using frozen sea water samples from 5 different cruises that collectively cover all sectors of the Southern Ocean. The N isotope effect estimated using nitrate + nitrite δ^(15)N is relatively constant (5.5 ± 0.6‰) across the Antarctic Zone, shows no relationship with mixed layer depth, and is in agreement with sediment trap δ^(15)N measurements. Estimates of the N isotope effect derived from nitrate-only δ^(15)N are higher and more variable (7.9 ± 1.5‰), consistent with an artifact from nitrate-nitrite isotope exchange. In the case of the Southern Ocean, we conclude that the δ^(15)N of nitrate + nitrite better reflects the isotope effect of nitrate assimilation. The stability of this isotope effect across the Antarctic Zone simplifies the effort to reconstruct the past degree of nitrate consumption

The southward migration of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current enhanced oceanic degassing of carbon dioxide during the last two deglaciations

Previous studies suggest that meridional migrations of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current may have altered wind-driven upwelling and carbon dioxide degassing in the Southern Ocean during past climate transitions. Here, we report a quantitative and continuous record of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current latitude over the last glacial-interglacial cycle, using biomarker-based reconstructions of surface layer temperature gradient in the southern Indian Ocean. The results show that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current was more equatorward during the ice ages and shifted ~6° poleward at the end of glacial terminations, consistent with Antarctic Circumpolar Current migration playing a role in glacial-interglacial atmospheric carbon dioxide change. Comparing the temporal evolution of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current mean latitude with other observations provides evidence that Earth’s axial tilt affects the strength and latitude range of Southern Ocean wind-driven upwelling, which may explain previously noted deviations in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from a simple correlation with Antarctic climate

A review of nitrogen isotopic alteration in marine sediments

Key Points: Use of sedimentary nitrogen isotopes is examined; On average, sediment 15N/14N increases approx. 2 per mil during early burial; Isotopic alteration scales with water depth Abstract: Nitrogen isotopes are an important tool for evaluating past biogeochemical cycling from the paleoceanographic record. However, bulk sedimentary nitrogen isotope ratios, which can be determined routinely and at minimal cost, may be altered during burial and early sedimentary diagenesis, particularly outside of continental margin settings. The causes and detailed mechanisms of isotopic alteration are still under investigation. Case studies of the Mediterranean and South China Seas underscore the complexities of investigating isotopic alteration. In an effort to evaluate the evidence for alteration of the sedimentary N isotopic signal and try to quantify the net effect, we have compiled and compared data demonstrating alteration from the published literature. A >100 point comparison of sediment trap and surface sedimentary nitrogen isotope values demonstrates that, at sites located off of the continental margins, an increase in sediment 15N/14N occurs during early burial, likely at the seafloor. The extent of isotopic alteration appears to be a function of water depth. Depth-related differences in oxygen exposure time at the seafloor are likely the dominant control on the extent of N isotopic alteration. Moreover, the compiled data suggest that the degree of alteration is likely to be uniform through time at most sites so that bulk sedimentary isotope records likely provide a good means for evaluating relative changes in the global N cycle

Glacial-to-interglacial changes in nitrate supply and consumption in the subarctic North Pacific from microfossil-bound N isotopes at two trophic levels

Reduced nitrate supply to the subarctic North Pacific (SNP) surface during the last ice age has been inferred from coupled changes in diatom-bound delta N-15 (DB-delta N-15), bulk sedimentary delta N-15, and biogenic fluxes. However, the reliability of bulk sedimentary and DB-delta N-15 has been questioned, and a previously reported delta N-15 minimum during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) has proven difficult to explain. In a core from the western SNP, we report the foraminifera-bound delta N-15 (FB-delta N-15) in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma and Globigerina bulloides, comparing them with DB-delta N-15 in the same core over the past 25 kyr. The delta N-15 of all recorders is higher during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) than in the Holocene, indicating more complete nitrate consumption. N. pachyderma FB-delta N-15 is similar to DB-delta N-15 in the Holocene but 2.2% higher during the LGM. This difference suggests a greater sensitivity of FB-delta(15)NZ to changes in summertime nitrate drawdown and delta N-15 rise, consistent with a lag of the foraminifera relative to diatoms in reaching their summertime production peak in this highly seasonal environment. Unlike DB-delta N-15, FB-delta N-15 does not decrease from the LGM into HS1, which supports a previous suggestion that the HS1 DB-delta N-15 minimum is due to contamination by sponge spicules. FB-delta N-15 drops in the latter half of the Bolling/Allerod warm period and rises briefly in the Younger Dryas cold period, followed by a decline into the mid-Holocene. The FB-delta N-15 records suggest that the coupling among cold climate, reduced nitrate supply, and more complete nitrate consumption that characterized the LGM also applied to the deglacial cold events

Increased nutrient supply to the Southern Ocean during the Holocene and its implications for the pre-industrial atmospheric CO₂ rise

A rise in the atmospheric CO2 concentration of ~20 parts per million over the course of the Holocene has long been recognized as exceptional among interglacials and is in need of explanation. Previous hypotheses involved natural or anthropogenic changes in terrestrial biomass, carbonate compensation in response to deglacial outgassing of oceanic CO2, and enhanced shallow water carbonate deposition. Here, we compile new and previously published fossil-bound nitrogen isotope records from the Southern Ocean that indicate a rise in surface nitrate concentration through the Holocene. When coupled with increasing or constant export production, these data suggest an acceleration of nitrate supply to the Southern Ocean surface from underlying deep water. This change would have weakened the ocean’s biological pump that stores CO2 in the ocean interior, possibly explaining the Holocene atmospheric CO2 rise. Over the Holocene, the circum-North Atlantic region cooled, and the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water appears to have slowed. Thus, the ‘seesaw’ in deep ocean ventilation between the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean that has been invoked for millennial-scale events, deglaciations and the last interglacial period may have also operated, albeit in a more gradual form, over the Holocene