Which biogeochemical consequence resulted from widespread terraced maize cultivation in the Andes by pre-Columbian civilizations?

💡 Explanation

With terraced maize cultivation, increased moisture and limited oxygen in waterlogged soils promote microbial denitrification because microbes use nitrate as an oxygen substitute, leading to the conversion of nitrate into atmospheric nitrogen. Therefore, reduced atmospheric nitrogen results, rather than other consequences which require differing biogeochemical processes.

• Which consequence resulted when ancient Mesopotamian bronze sickle blades encountered highly siliceous soil during harvest?
• Which mechanical advantage strategy did Roman siege engineers primarily utilize when deploying the aries (battering ram)?
• Which limitation constrained early medieval Islamic astronomers' geocentric astronomical calculations before accurate trigonometric functions?
• Which mechanism determined the lifespan of mechanically driven astronomical clocks developed in the Islamic Golden Age?
• Which risk increased when Roman siege catapults launched incendiary projectiles against wooden fortifications?
• Which outcome occurs when heavy rainfall saturates poorly compacted fill within a pre-Columbian agricultural terrace system?