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Medina Ferrer F, Rosen MR, Feyhl-Buska J, Russell VV, Sønderholm F, Loyd S, Shapiro R, Stamps BW, Petryshyn V, Demirel-Floyd C, Bailey JV, Johnson HA, Spear JR, Corsetti FA. Potential role for microbial ureolysis in the rapid formation of carbonate tufa mounds. GEOBIOLOGY 2022; 20:79-97. [PMID: 34337850 DOI: 10.1111/gbi.12467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Modern carbonate tufa towers in the alkaline (~pH 9.5) Big Soda Lake (BSL), Nevada, exhibit rapid precipitation rates (exceeding 3 cm/year) and host diverse microbial communities. Geochemical indicators reveal that carbonate precipitation is, in part, promoted by the mixing of calcium-rich groundwater and carbonate-rich lake water, such that a microbial role for carbonate precipitation is unknown. Here, we characterize the BSL microbial communities and evaluate their potential effects on carbonate precipitation that may influence fast carbonate precipitation rates of the active tufa mounds of BSL. Small subunit rRNA gene surveys indicate a diverse microbial community living endolithically, in interior voids, and on tufa surfaces. Metagenomic DNA sequencing shows that genes associated with metabolisms that are capable of increasing carbonate saturation (e.g., photosynthesis, ureolysis, and bicarbonate transport) are abundant. Enzyme activity assays revealed that urease and carbonic anhydrase, two microbial enzymes that promote carbonate precipitation, are active in situ in BSL tufa biofilms, and urease also increased calcium carbonate precipitation rates in laboratory incubation analyses. We propose that, although BSL tufas form partially as a result of water mixing, tufa-inhabiting microbiota promote rapid carbonate authigenesis via ureolysis, and potentially via bicarbonate dehydration and CO2 outgassing by carbonic anhydrase. Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation in BSL tufas may generate signatures preserved in the carbonate microfabric, such as stromatolitic layers, which could serve as models for developing potential biosignatures on Earth and elsewhere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Medina Ferrer
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Michael R Rosen
- US Geological Survey, California Water Science Center, Carson City, Nevada, USA
| | - Jayme Feyhl-Buska
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Virginia V Russell
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Fredrik Sønderholm
- Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sean Loyd
- Department of Geological Sciences, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USA
| | | | - Blake W Stamps
- 711th Human Performance Wing, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, USA
- UES, Inc., Dayton, Ohio, USA
| | - Victoria Petryshyn
- Environmental Studies Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | | | - Jake V Bailey
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Hope A Johnson
- Department of Biological Science, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USA
| | - John R Spear
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA
| | - Frank A Corsetti
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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