Collaborative Research: Exploring the role of exogenous polyphosphate in the precipitation of calcium phosphate minerals in the marine environment

磷是维持所有生命形式的重要营养物质。特别是，在海洋中，磷是一种关键的限制营养物质，控制着大片海洋的初级生产力水平。磷的去除主要是通过在海洋沉积物中形成稳定的磷灰石矿物来进行的。然而，平均海洋条件通常会抑制磷灰石的形成，因此海洋沉积物中磷灰石矿物的丰富程度是一个谜。这项研究旨在确定海洋中磷灰石的形成机制，以回答这个百年来的问题。评估这些机制将极大地促进目前对海洋中磷循环的理解。对磷循环的更详细的了解可以应用于海洋科学的各个学科，由于磷作为一种营养物质和一种与其他元素具有各种相互作用的元素的重要性，它将适用于各种其他研究问题。研究人员致力于促进海洋科学的多样性，并计划将来自代表性不足群体的本科生纳入这项研究。他们还将指导一名博士后，并通过名为？大英百科全书博客？、亚特兰大科学节、摇滚表演和教育材料的博客向公众和K-12教师传播他们的科学知识，后两者将作为这项工作的一部分进行开发。通过沉积物中自生稳定的磷灰石形成的海洋磷埋藏是海洋磷去除的主要途径。然而，在大多数海洋环境中，在自然条件下，这一过程受到动力学上的抑制。一个多世纪以来，磷灰石如何可能在大片海洋沉积物中过饱和一直是一个谜。可以解释95%磷灰石埋藏流量的一个可能机制是，磷灰石矿物以细小颗粒的形式从外源聚磷酸盐中间体中沉淀出来。外源聚磷酸盐一直未被研究，尽管这可能是一种重要的除磷机制。因此，这项研究可能会彻底改变目前对海洋中磷循环的理解，因为主要目的是彻底和详细地研究海洋磷灰石形成背后的机制，重点是外源聚磷酸盐颗粒的作用。磷是海洋科学中一种具有广泛重要性的元素，更清楚地了解它的埋藏将在各个学科中得到应用。

Phosphorous is an important nutrient sustaining all forms of life. In particular, in the ocean, phosphorous is a key limiting nutrient, controlling levels of primary productivity across large swaths of the ocean. Removal of phosphorous occurs largely via formation of stable apatite minerals in ocean sediments. However, average ocean conditions generally inhibit the formation of apatite, thus the abundance of apatite minerals in marine sediments is a mystery. This research aims to determine the mechanisms of apatite formation in the ocean to answer this century-old question. Evaluating these mechanisms will greatly advance current understanding of phosphorous cycling in the ocean. A more detailed understanding of phosphorous cycling can be applied across the disciplines of ocean science, and because of the importance of phosphorous as a nutrient and an element with a variety of interactions with other elements, it will be applicable to a variety of other research questions. The researchers are dedicated to promoting diversity in ocean science and plan to include undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in the study. They will also mentor a postdoc and communicate their science to the public and K-12 teachers via a blog entitled ?Britannica Blog?, the Atlanta Science Festival, a rock show, and educational material, the latter two to be developed as part of this work. Marine phosphorous burial via authigenic stable apatite formation in sediments is a major pathway for phosphorous removal in the ocean. However, in most marine environments, under natural conditions, this process is kinetically inhibited. It has been a mystery for more than a century as to how it is therefore possible for apatite to be oversaturated in large areas of marine sediments. A possible mechanism that could explain 95% of the apatite burial flux is that apatite minerals are precipitated as fine-grained particles from exogenous polyphosphate intermediates. Exogenous polyphosphates have been understudied, despite this possible importance as a mechanism for phosphorous removal. As a consequence this research could revolutionize current understanding of phosphorous cycling in the ocean for the major aim is to make a thorough and detailed study of the mechanisms behind marine apatite formation, focusing on the role of exogenous polyphosphate particles. Phosphorous is an element with widespread importance in ocean sciences, and more clearly understanding its burial will have applications across the disciplines.