Foraminiferal nitrate respiration in oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) - past and present (B07)

• Subject Area: Oceanography ; Palaeontology
• Term: from 2008 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 27542298

Benthic foraminifera living in oxygen depleted habitats are a rare example of eukaryothic denitrification and play a key role in the Peruvian nitrogen cycle. The aim of this subproject is to constrain benthic foraminiferal contribution to the N-loss pathways in the OMZ. Furthermore, we will characterise enzymes involved in foraminiferal denitrification and determine the possible endosymbiont participation to this process. Additionally, foraminiferal redox proxies will be refined by 3D imaging and cell structural analyses. These proxies will be further applied to existing sediment cores from the suboxic/oxic transition zone of the Peruvian OMZ to assess fluctuations in the benthic nitrogen cycle over the last 20,000 years.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 754: Climate - Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean
• Applicant Institution: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
• Co-Applicant Institution: GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Tal Dagan; Professor Dr. Anton Eisenhauer; Professor Dr. Stanislav N. Gorb