14 research outputs found
First discovery and characterizations of late Cretaceous seep carbonates from Xigaze in Tibet, China
Biogeochemical controls on authigenic carbonate formation at the Chapopote "asphalt volcano", Bay of Campeche
Geological, geochemical, and microbiological heterogeneity of the seafloor around methane vents in the Eel River Basin, offshore California
Marine methane vents and cold seeps are common features along continental margins worldwide, serving as localized sites for methane release and colonization by microbial and chemosynthetic megafaunal communities. The Eel River Basin (ERB), located on the continental slope off Northern California, contains active methane vents and seep-associated chemosynthetic biological communities (CBC) on the crests of anticlines in ∼520-m water depth. Seep-related features on the seafloor have a patchy distribution and include active bubbling vents, chemosynthetic clam beds, and sulfide-oxidizing bacterial mats. Methane sources supplying local seeps are heterogeneous on all spatial scales and support a large and diverse microbial assemblage involved in the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM).
To develop a comprehensive understanding of the complex biological, geochemical and physical processes associated with, and influencing seafloor methane seepage, a multidisciplinary approach is required. Here we present an integrative, multidisciplinary study that illustrates the diverse processes associated with seafloor methane seepage within the Eel River Basin and the complex interactions defining the geochemistry, mineralogy and microbiology within this environment
Distributions of microbial activities in deep subseafloor sediments
Diverse microbial communities and numerous energy-yielding activities occur in deeply buried sediments of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Distributions of metabolic activities often deviate from the standard model. Rates of activities, cell concentrations, and populations of cultured bacteria vary consistently from one subseafloor environment to another. Net rates of major activities principally rely on electron acceptors and electron donors from the photosynthetic surface world. At open-ocean sites, nitrate and oxygen are supplied to the deepest sedimentary communities through the underlying basaltic aquifer. In turn, these sedimentary communities may supply dissolved electron donors and nutrients to the underlying crustal biosphere
Comparison of Archaeal and Bacterial Diversity in Methane Seep Carbonate Nodules and Host Sediments, Eel River Basin and Hydrate Ridge, USA
Hydrocarbon-derived carbonates along the upper–lower continental slope, Gulf of Mexico: a mineralogical and stable isotopic study
Petrographic and geochemical characterization of seep carbonate from Alaminos Canyon, Gulf of Mexico
Formation of carbonate concretions in surface sediments of two mud mounds offshore Costa Rica: A stable isotope study
The surface sediments of two mud mounds
(‘‘Mound 11’’ and ‘‘Mound 12’’) offshore southwest Costa
Rica contain abundant authigenic carbonate concretions
dominated by high-Mg calcite (14–20 mol-% MgCO3). Pore
fluid geochemical profiles (sulfate, sulfide, methane, alkalinity,
Ca and Mg) indicate recent carbonate precipitation
within the zone of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) at
variable depths. The current location of the authigenic carbonate
concretions is, however, not related to the present
location of the AOM zone, suggesting mineral precipitation
under past geochemical conditions as well as changes in the
flow rates of upward migrating fluids. Stable oxygen and
carbon isotope analysis of authigenic carbonate concretions
yielded d18Ocarbonate values ranging between 34.0 and
37.7 % Vienna standard mean ocean water (VSMOW) and
d13Ccarbonate values from -52.2 to -14.2 % Vienna Pee
Dee belemnite (VPDB). Assuming that no temperature
changes occurred during mineral formation, the authigenic
carbonate concretions have been formed at in situ temperature
of 4–5 °C. The d18Ocarbonate values suggest mineral
formation from seawater-derived pore fluid (d18Oporefluid
= 0 % VSMOW) for Mound 12 carbonate concretions but
also the presence of an emanating diagenetic fluid
(d18Oporefluid &5 %) in Mound 11. A positive correlation
between d13Ccarbonate and d18Ocarbonate is observed, indicating
the admixing of two different sources of dissolved carbon
and oxygen in the sediments of the two mounds. The
carbon of these sources are (1) marine bicarbonate
(d13Cporefluid &0 %) and (2) bicarbonate which formed
during the AOM (d13Cporefluid &-70 %). Furthermore, the
d18Oporefluid composition, with values up to ?4.7 % Vienna
standard mean ocean water (VSMOW), is interpreted to be
affected by the presence of emanating, freshened and boronenriched
fluids. Earlier, it has been shown that the origin of
18O-enriched fluids are deep diagenetic processes as it was
indicated by the presence of methane with thermogenic
signature (d13CCH4 = -38 %). A combination of present
geochemical data with geophysical observations indicates
that Mounds 11 and 12 represent a single fluid system
interconnected by deep-seated fault(s)