Geobiology Reading Group
@geobioreadinggroup.bsky.social
Paper discussion links for Caltech's Geobiology Reading Group.
November 21, 2025: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Drought-induced peatland carbon loss exacerbated by elevated CO2 and warming
Extreme drought events are predicted to increase with climate change, yet their impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics under warming and elevated carbon dioxide (eCO2) remain unclear. In a peatland expe...
www.science.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:32 AM
November 21, 2025: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 14, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
Elevated carbon dioxide does not increase macroalgal community photosynthesis - Communications Earth & Environment
Ocean acidification affects macroalgal community composition but does not enhance photosynthetic activity, according to chamber experiments using volcanic vents as an analogue for ocean acidification.
doi.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:16 AM
November 14, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
October 31, 2025: doi.org/10.1111/gbi....
doi.org
October 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
October 31, 2025: doi.org/10.1111/gbi....
October 24, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
Increased carbon inputs alter soil microbial genetic potential for biogeochemical cycling in Arctic ecosystems - Communications Earth & Environment
Plant litter additions enhance soil microbial functional potentials for carbon and nitrogen cycling in high-Arctic ecosystems, based on a four-year experiment simulating vegetation expansion under cli...
doi.org
October 24, 2025 at 3:04 AM
October 24, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
October 3, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
Seasonal biogeochemical variations in a modern microbialite reef under early Earth-like conditions - Communications Earth & Environment
Microbial communities, exposed to early Earth-like conditions in a modern microbialite reef, change cyclically due to seasonal environmental variations, implying evolved metabolic processes in microbialites over time, based on multiple chemical, physical, and biological analyses.
doi.org
October 1, 2025 at 9:19 PM
October 3, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
September 12, 2025: doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
Exploring productivity hotspots in the Precambrian biosphere | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Earth’s earliest biosphere was likely limited by metabolic energy. Nutrient limitation,
which imparts a strong control on productivity today, only began with the origin of
oxygenic photosynthesis ca 3...
doi.org
September 9, 2025 at 11:41 PM
September 12, 2025: doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
August 29, 2025: doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
An early origin of oxygenic photosynthesis delays the Great Oxidation | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) was the most significant chemical revolution in Earth’s
history, occurring 2.4 billion years ago. The metabolism that made this transition
possible, oxygenic photosynth...
doi.org
August 28, 2025 at 1:14 AM
August 29, 2025: doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
August 22, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Metal-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane and the Sturtian deglaciation - Nature Communications
Metal-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane and methanogenesis, mediated by a diverse microbial community, drove iron-mineral transformation and may have aided ice sheet melting, according to analysis...
doi.org
August 19, 2025 at 11:09 PM
August 22, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
June 13, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Isolation of a putative sulfur comproportionating microorganism - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Isolation of a putative sulfur comproportionating microorganism
doi.org
June 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
June 13, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
May 16, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Simulated early Earth geochemistry fuels a hydrogen-dependent primordial metabolism - Nature Ecology & Evolution
In an iron-sulfide chemical garden experiment that mimics the kind of hydrothermal vents that might have occurred in the early Archaean, mackinawite and greigite are precipitated and abiotic H2 is pro...
doi.org
May 12, 2025 at 8:18 PM
May 16, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
March 8, 2025: doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Postglacial bioweathering, soil nutrient cycling, and podzolization from palaeometagenomics of plants, fungi, and bacteria
From basalt weathering to podsolization, long-term soil development in Arctic tundra-forest recovered by palaeometagenomics.
doi.org
May 8, 2025 at 9:37 PM
March 8, 2025: doi.org/10.1126/scia...
April 25, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
The potential for coupled organic and inorganic sulfur cycles across the terrestrial deep subsurface biosphere - Nature Communications
Organic sulfur compounds are vital to life but often overlooked in the sulfur cycle, especially in the subsurface. Subsurface microbes can metabolize diverse organosulfur compounds, hinting at a more ...
doi.org
April 24, 2025 at 12:07 AM
April 25, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
April 18, 2025: doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Refugium amidst ruins: Unearthing the lost flora that escaped the end-Permian mass extinction
The Taodonggou refugium helped the rapid establishment of a diverse terrestrial ecosystem after the end-Permian mass extinction.
doi.org
April 16, 2025 at 10:45 PM
April 18, 2025: doi.org/10.1126/scia...
April 11, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
Preserved carbon isotope compositions in 3.7 billion year old detrital organic matter from the Isua Supracrustal Belt - Communications Earth & Environment
Detrital biogenic graphite may signal the Earth’s oldest evidence of life, according to the results from carbon isotope analysis of graphite in 3.7-billion-year-old sediments from the Isua Supracrusta...
doi.org
April 8, 2025 at 11:14 PM
April 11, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
March 14, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Single-cell imaging reveals efficient nutrient uptake and growth of microalgae darkening the Greenland Ice Sheet - Nature Communications
Blooms of pigmented microalgae accelerate glacier and ice sheet melting by reducing the surface albedo. Here, Halbach et al. use single-cell measurements of elemental composition and nutrient assimila...
doi.org
March 11, 2025 at 2:48 AM
March 14, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
March 7, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
The hidden role of heterotrophic bacteria in early carbonate diagenesis - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - The hidden role of heterotrophic bacteria in early carbonate diagenesis
doi.org
February 25, 2025 at 1:01 AM
March 7, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
February 28, 2025: Due to a campus symposium, this meeting of the reading group is canceled.
February 25, 2025 at 1:00 AM
February 28, 2025: Due to a campus symposium, this meeting of the reading group is canceled.
February 21, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
Marine carbon burial enhanced by microbial carbonate formation at hydrocarbon seeps - Communications Earth & Environment
Carbonate precipitation by microbial mats in active hydrocarbon seeps can accelerate carbon sequestration in these settings by up to 25 times, according to analysis of a drill core from the South Chin...
doi.org
February 17, 2025 at 9:40 PM
February 21, 2025: doi.org/10.1038/s432...
February 14, 2025: doi.org/10.1111/gbi....
Early‐Branching Cyanobacteria Grow Faster and Upregulate Superoxide Dismutase Activity Under a Simulated Early Earth Anoxic Atmosphere
The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis during the Archean (4–2.5 Ga) required the presence of complementary reducing pathways to maintain the cellular redox balance. While the timing of the evoluti....
doi.org
February 11, 2025 at 2:28 AM
February 14, 2025: doi.org/10.1111/gbi....