scholarly journals Cemented mounds and hydrothermal sediments on the detachment surface at Kane Megamullion: A new manifestation of hydrothermal venting

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 3352-3378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Tucholke ◽  
Susan E. Humphris ◽  
Henry J. B. Dick
1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 491-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Westall

AbstractThe oldest cell-like structures on Earth are preserved in silicified lagoonal, shallow sea or hydrothermal sediments, such as some Archean formations in Western Australia and South Africa. Previous studies concentrated on the search for organic fossils in Archean rocks. Observations of silicified bacteria (as silica minerals) are scarce for both the Precambrian and the Phanerozoic, but reports of mineral bacteria finds, in general, are increasing. The problems associated with the identification of authentic fossil bacteria and, if possible, closer identification of bacteria type can, in part, be overcome by experimental fossilisation studies. These have shown that not all bacteria fossilise in the same way and, indeed, some seem to be very resistent to fossilisation. This paper deals with a transmission electron microscope investigation of the silicification of four species of bacteria commonly found in the environment. The Gram positiveBacillus laterosporusand its spore produced a robust, durable crust upon silicification, whereas the Gram negativePseudomonas fluorescens, Ps. vesicularis, andPs. acidovoranspresented delicately preserved walls. The greater amount of peptidoglycan, containing abundant metal cation binding sites, in the cell wall of the Gram positive bacterium, probably accounts for the difference in the mode of fossilisation. The Gram positive bacteria are, therefore, probably most likely to be preserved in the terrestrial and extraterrestrial rock record.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dougal A. Jerram ◽  
◽  
Henrik H. Svensen ◽  
Sverre Planke ◽  
John Millett ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherlynette Pérez Castro ◽  
Mikayla A. Borton ◽  
Kathleen Regan ◽  
Isabella Hrabe de Angelis ◽  
Kelly C. Wrighton ◽  
...  

AbstractHydrothermal sediments contain large numbers of uncultured heterotrophic microbial lineages. Here, we amended Guaymas Basin sediments with proteins, polysaccharides, nucleic acids or lipids under different redox conditions and cultivated heterotrophic thermophiles with the genomic potential for macromolecule degradation. We reconstructed 20 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of uncultured lineages affiliating with known archaeal and bacterial phyla, including endospore-forming Bacilli and candidate phylum Marinisomatota. One Marinisomatota MAG had 35 different glycoside hydrolases often in multiple copies, seven extracellular CAZymes, six polysaccharide lyases, and multiple sugar transporters. This population has the potential to degrade a broad spectrum of polysaccharides including chitin, cellulose, pectin, alginate, chondroitin, and carrageenan. We also describe thermophiles affiliating with the genera Thermosyntropha, Thermovirga, and Kosmotoga with the capability to make a living on nucleic acids, lipids, or multiple macromolecule classes, respectively. Several populations seemed to lack extracellular enzyme machinery and thus likely scavenged oligo- or monomers (e.g., MAGs affiliating with Archaeoglobus) or metabolic products like hydrogen (e.g., MAGs affiliating with Thermodesulfobacterium or Desulforudaceae). The growth of methanogens or the production of methane was not observed in any condition, indicating that the tested macromolecules are not degraded into substrates for methanogenesis in hydrothermal sediments. We provide new insights into the niches, and genomes of microorganisms that actively degrade abundant necromass macromolecules under oxic, sulfate-reducing, and fermentative thermophilic conditions. These findings improve our understanding of the carbon flow across trophic levels and indicate how primary produced biomass sustains complex and productive ecosystems.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 1231-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Kallmeyer ◽  
Antje Boetius

ABSTRACT Rates of sulfate reduction (SR) and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in hydrothermal deep-sea sediments from Guaymas Basin were measured at temperatures of 5 to 200°C and pressures of 1 × 105, 2.2 × 107, and 4.5 × 107 Pa. A maximum SR of several micromoles per cubic centimeter per day was found at between 60 and 95°C and 2.2 × 107 and 4.5 × 107 Pa. Maximal AOM was observed at 35 to 90°C but generally accounted for less than 5% of SR.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1252
Author(s):  
Jan Barmuta ◽  
Krzysztof Starzec ◽  
Wojciech Schnabel

Based on the interpretation of 2D seismic profiles integrated with surface geological investigations, a mechanism responsible for the formation of a large scale normal fault zone has been proposed. The fault, here referred to as the Rycerka Fault, has a predominantly normal dip-slip component with the detachment surface located at the base of Carpathian units. The fault developed due to the formation of an anticlinal stack within the Dukla Unit overlain by the Magura Units. Stacking of a relatively narrow duplex led to the growth of a dome-like culmination in the lower unit, i.e., the Dukla Unit, and, as a consequence of differential uplift of the unit above and outside the duplex, the upper unit (the Magura Unit) was subjected to stretching. This process invoked normal faulting along the lateral culmination wall and was facilitated by the regional, syn-thrusting arc–parallel extension. Horizontal movement along the fault plane is a result of tear faulting accommodating a varied rate of advancement of Carpathian units. The time of the fault formation is not well constrained; however, based on superposition criterion, the syn -thrusting origin is anticipated.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Mueller ◽  
S J Piercey ◽  
M G Babechuk ◽  
D Copeland

The Goldenville horizon in the Baie Verte Peninsula is an important stratigraphic horizon that hosts primary (Cambrian to Ordovician) exhalative magnetite and pyrite and was a chemical trap for younger (Silurian to Devonian) orogenic gold mineralization. The horizon is overlain by basaltic flows and volcaniclastic rocks, is intercalated with variably coloured argillites and cherts, and underlain by mafic volcaniclastic rocks; the entire stratigraphy is cut by younger fine-grained mafic dykes and coarser gabbro. Lithogeochemical signatures of the Goldenville horizon allow it to be divided into high-Fe iron formation (HIF; >50% Fe2O3), low-Fe iron formation (LIF; 15-50% Fe2O3), and argillite with iron minerals (AIF; <15% Fe2O3). These variably Fe-rich rocks have Fe-Ti-Mn-Al systematics consistent with element derivation from varying mineral contributions from hydrothermal venting and ambient detrital sedimentation. Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS)-normalized rare earth element (REE) signatures for the HIF samples have negative Ce anomalies and patterns similar to modern hydrothermal sediment deposited under oxygenated ocean conditions. The PAAS-normalized REE signatures of LIF samples have positive Ce anomalies, similar to hydrothermal sediment deposited under anoxic to sub-oxic conditions. The paradoxical Ce behaviour is potentially explained by the Mn geochemistry of the LIF samples. The LIF have elevated MnO contents (2.0-7.5 weight %), suggesting that Mn from hydrothermal fluids was oxidized in an oxygenated water column during hydrothermal venting, Mn-oxides then scavenged Ce from seawater, and these Mn-oxides were subsequently deposited in the hydrothermal sediment. The Mn-rich LIF samples with positive Ce anomalies are intercalated with HIF with negative Ce anomalies, both regionally and on a metre scale within drill holes. Thus, the LIF positive Ce anomaly signature may record extended and particle-specific scavenging rather than sub-oxic/redox-stratified marine conditions. Collectively, results suggest that the Cambro-Ordovician Taconic seaway along the Laurentian margin may have been completely or near-completely oxygenated at the time of Goldenville horizon deposition.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 3646-3661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie K. Stucker ◽  
Sharon L. Walker ◽  
Cornel E. J. de Ronde ◽  
Fabio Caratori Tontini ◽  
Shinji Tsuchida

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian M Rambo ◽  
Valerie De Anda ◽  
Marguerite V Langwig ◽  
Brett J Baker

Asgard archaea are newly described microbes that are related to eukaryotes. Asgards are diverse and globally distributed, however, their viruses have not been described. Here we characterize seven viral genomes that infected Lokiarchaeota, Helarchaeota, and Thorarchaeota in deep-sea hydrothermal sediments. These viruses code for structural proteins similar to those in Caudovirales, as well as proteins distinct from those described in archaeal viruses. They also have genes common in eukaryotic nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), and are predicted to be capable of semi-autonomous genome replication, repair, epigenetic modifications, and transcriptional regulation. Moreover, Helarchaeota viruses may hijack host ubiquitin systems similar to eukaryotic viruses. This first glimpse of Asgard viruses reveals they have features of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses, and provides insights into their roles in the ecology and evolution of these globally distributed microbes.


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