Ben Johnson
September 15, 2016
Long viewed as a primarily inert component of the atmosphere, recent research has uncovered a much more dynamic history than ever anticipated for this element. Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for biology, the main gas of the atmosphere, and is found in great quantities in the Earth's interior. This seminar will highlight this new view of N from the perspective of the Earth System. Topics will include the origin of volatile elements during planetary formation, the evolution of the N cycle, and will highlight research investigating the state of the oceans during Snowball Earth.