Evidence for Microbial Carbon and Sulfur Cycling in Deeply Buried Ridge Flank Basalt
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Ono - Lever_etal_(2013).pdf
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Author(s)
Lever, Mark A.
Rouxel, Olivier
Alt, Jeffrey C.
Shimizu, Nobumichi
Ono, Shuhei
Coggon, Rosalind M.
Shanks III, Wayne C.
Lapham, Laura
Elvert, Marcus
Prieto-Mollar, Xavier
Date Issued
March 2013
Journal
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Lever, M. A., O. Rouxel, J. C. Alt, N. Shimizu, S. Ono, R. M. Coggon, W. C. Shanks, et al. “Evidence for Microbial Carbon and Sulfur Cycling in Deeply Buried Ridge Flank Basalt.” Science 339, no. 6125 (March 15, 2013): 1305–1308.
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
Sediment-covered basalt on the flanks of mid-ocean ridges constitutes most of Earth's oceanic crust, but the composition and metabolic function of its microbial ecosystem are largely unknown. By drilling into 3.5-million-year-old subseafloor basalt, we demonstrated the presence of methane- and sulfur-cycling microbes on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Depth horizons with functional genes indicative of methane-cycling and sulfate-reducing microorganisms are enriched in solid-phase sulfur and total organic carbon, host δ[superscript 13]C- and δ[superscript 34]S-isotopic values with a biological imprint, and show clear signs of microbial activity when incubated in the laboratory. Downcore changes in carbon and sulfur cycling show discrete geochemical intervals with chemoautotrophic δ[superscript 13]C signatures locally attenuated by heterotrophic metabolism.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1229240
