Carbon pools and isotopic trends in a hypersaline cyanobacterial mat

The fine-scale depth distribution of major carbon pools and their stable carbon isotopic signatures (delta(13)C) were determined in a cyanobacterial mat (Salin-de-Giraud, Camargue, France) to study early diagenetic alterations and the carbon preservation potential in hypersaline mat ecosystems. Particular emphasis was placed on the geochemical role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Total carbon (C(tot)), organic carbon (C(org)), total nitrogen (N(tot)), total hydrolysable amino acids (THAA), carbohydrates, cyanobacteria-derived hydrocarbons (8-methylhexadecane, n-heptadec-5-ene, n-heptadecane) and EPS showed highest concentrations in the top millimetre of the mat and decreased with depth. The hydrocarbons attributed to cyanobacteria showed the strongest decrease in concentration with depth. This correlated well with the depth profiles of oxygenic photosynthesis and oxygen, which were detected in the top 0.6 and 1.05 mm, respectively, at a high down-welling irradiance (1441 micromol photons m(-2) s(-1)). At depths beneath the surface layer, the C(org) was composed mainly of amino acids and carbohydrates. A resistance towards microbial degradation could have resulted from interactions with diverse functional groups present in biopolymers (EPS) and with minerals deposited in the mat. A (13)C enrichment with depth for the total carbon pool (C(tot)) was observed, with delta(13)C values ranging from -16.3 per thousand at the surface to -11.3 per thousand at 9-10 mm depth. Total lipids depicted a delta(13)C value of -17.2 per thousand in the top millimetre and then became depleted in (13)C with depth (-21.7 to -23.3 per thousand). The delta(13)C value of EPS varied only slightly with depth (-16.1 to -17.3 per thousand) and closely followed the delta(13)C value of C(org) at depths beneath 4 mm. The EPS represents an organic carbon pool of preservation potential during early stages of diagenesis in recent cyanobacterial mats as a result of a variety of possible interactions. Their analyses might improve our understanding of fossilized microbial remains from mat ecosystems.