Science. 1975 Apr 4;188(4183):15-8. doi: 10.1126/science.188.4183.15.
We have attempted to demonstrate a possible relationship between phosphorite deposition and an increase in marine denitrification. The studies of others indicate that major phosphorite deposits are often associated with black shales and accumulated during only a few epochs of geologic history. Some of these epochs were also marked by mass extinctions of organisms. Such events are not as precisely nor as strongly correlated as we would like. Nevertheless, the correlations are strong enough to encourage further consideration of the effects of possible changes in the rate of denitrification within ancient oceans on the origin of phosphorite deposits, the extinctions of marine organisms, variations in the overall level of biological activity, and temporal fluctuations in the organic carbon content of sedimentary rocks (36).
我们试图证明磷矿沉积与海洋脱氮作用增强之间可能存在联系。其他人的研究表明，主要的磷矿床通常与黑色页岩有关，并且只在地质历史的少数几个时期中积累。其中一些时期也伴随着生物的大规模灭绝。这些事件的相关性并不像我们希望的那样精确和强烈。尽管如此，这些相关性足以促使人们进一步考虑古代海洋中脱氮作用速率可能发生的变化对磷矿床的形成、海洋生物的灭绝、生物总体活动水平的变化以及沉积岩中有机碳含量的时间波动的影响（36）。
