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Redfield's evolving legacy

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The ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in organic matter is close to that in seawater, a relationship maintained through a set of biological feedbacks. The rapid delivery of nutrients from human activities may test the efficacy of these processes.

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Figure 1: The relationship between nitrate and phosphate in the ocean.
Figure 2: Feedbacks governing the marine N cycle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nicolas Gruber is in the Environmental Physics group, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland,

    Nicolas Gruber

  2. Curtis A. Deutsch is at the School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA,

    Curtis A. Deutsch

Authors
  1. Nicolas Gruber
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  2. Curtis A. Deutsch
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Correspondence to Nicolas Gruber.

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Gruber, N., Deutsch, C. Redfield's evolving legacy. Nature Geosci 7, 853–855 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2308

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