P. H. Barry

Abstract The development of life on Earth has been enabled by its volatile-rich surface. The volatile budget of Earth’s surface is controlled by the balance between ingassing (for example, via subduction) and outgassing (for example, through magmatic and tectonic processes). Although volatiles within Earth’s interior are relatively depleted compared to CI chondrites, the total amount of volatiles within Earth is still substantial due to its vast size.

Abstract Nitrogen is the main constituent of the Earth’s atmosphere, but its provenance in the Earth’s mantle remains uncertain. The relative contribution of primordial nitrogen inherited during the Earth’s accretion versus that subducted from the Earth’s surface is unclear1,2,3,4,5,6. Here we show that the mantle may have retained remnants of such primordial nitrogen. We use the rare 15N15N isotopologue of N2 as a new tracer of air contamination in volcanic gas effusions.

Correction to: Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1131-5 Published online 24 April 2019; corrected online 28 June 2019 In this Article, Tehnuka Ilanko should have been listed as an author, with the affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. She contributed to the gas compositional and C isotope analyses (see ‘Author contributions’). The original Article has been corrected online. Author information Author notes P. H.