Nitrogen fixation sustained productivity in the wake of the Palaeoproterozoic Great Oxygenation Event

Abstract

The response of biogeochemical nitrogen cycle to Earth-surface oxygenation remains poorly known. Here, the authors show that aerobic nitrogen cycling was pervasive prior to the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), but its evolution was complex, with diazotrophy prevailing and sustaining productivity after the GOE.