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La evidencia de los ciclos microbianos de carbono y azufre en el basalto profundamente enterrado en el flanco de la
Mark A Lever1, Olivier Rouxel, Jeffrey C Alt
1Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. mark.lever@biology.au.dk
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|March 16, 2013
Resumen
Las comunidades microbianas en el subsuelo del basalto en las cordilleras oceánicas medias ciclan el metano y el azufre. Estos hallazgos revelan las funciones metabólicas de estos ecosistemas profundos de la Tierra.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Las geociencias son ciencias geológicas.
- Microbiología Microbiología.
- Biogeoquímica La biogeoquímica es la bioquímica.
Sus antecedentes:
- La corteza oceánica, compuesta principalmente de basalto cubierto de sedimentos, alberga ecosistemas microbianos en gran parte desconocidos.
- Comprender la composición y las funciones metabólicas de estos microbios del subsuelo es crucial para comprender los procesos profundos de la Tierra.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Investigar la vida microbiana y las funciones metabólicas en el subsuelo de basalto de 3,5 millones de años.
- Identificar los ciclos biogeoquímicos clave mediados por estos microorganismos.
Principales métodos:
- Perforación en las formaciones basálticas del subsuelo en la cresta de Juan de Fuca.
- Analizando horizontes de profundidad para genes funcionales relacionados con el ciclo del metano y el azufre.
- Medición de los valores isotópicos (δ(13) C y δ(34) S) para detectar huellas biológicas.
- Realización de incubaciones de laboratorio para evaluar la actividad microbiana.
Principales resultados:
- Demostró la presencia de microbios que circulan el metano y el azufre en el basalto del subsuelo.
- Se identificaron horizontes de profundidad específicos enriquecidos en azufre, carbono orgánico y que exhiben firmas isotópicas biológicas.
- Se observó evidencia clara de actividad microbiana a través de incubaciones de laboratorio.
- Caracterizó variaciones del núcleo descendente en el ciclo del carbono y el azufre, lo que indica el metabolismo quimioautotrófico y heterotrófico.
Conclusiones:
- Los yacimientos de basalto del subsuelo marino albergan ecosistemas microbianos activos involucrados en el ciclo del metano y el azufre.
- Los datos geoquímicos e isotópicos confirman la influencia biológica en las transformaciones de carbono y azufre.
- Diferentes intervalos geoquímicos destacan la interacción entre las diferentes vías metabólicas en el subsuelo.
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