Indications for the past redox environments in deep groundwaters from the isotopic composition of carbon and oxygen in fracture calcite, Olkiluoto, SW Finland

Re-Evaluating the Age of Deep Biosphere Fossils in the Lockne Impact Structure

Impact-generated hydrothermal systems have been suggested as favourable environments for deep microbial ecosystems on Earth, and possibly beyond. Fossil evidence from a handful of impact craters worldwide have been used to support this notion. However, as always with mineralized remains of microorganisms in crystalline rock, certain time constraints with respect to the ecosystems and their subsequent fossilization are difficult to obtain. Here we re-evaluate previously described fungal fossils from the Lockne crater (458 Ma), Sweden. Based on in-situ Rb/Sr dating of secondary calcite-albite-feldspar (356.6 ± 6.7 Ma) we conclude that the fungal colonization took place at least 100 Myr after the impact event, thus long after the impact-induced hydrothermal activity ceased. We also present microscale stable isotope data of 13C-enriched calcite suggesting the presence of methanogens contemporary with the fungi. Thus, the Lockne fungi fossils are not, as previously thought, related to the impact event, but nevertheless have colonized fractures that may have been formed or were reactivated by the impact. Instead, the Lockne fossils show similar features as recent findings of ancient microbial remains elsewhere in the fractured Swedish Precambrian basement and may thus represent a more general feature in this scarcely explored habitat than previously known.

Incorporation of Metals into Calcite in a Deep Anoxic Granite Aquifer

Understanding metal scavenging by calcite in deep aquifers in granite is of importance for deciphering and modeling hydrochemical fluctuations and water-rock interaction in the upper crust and for retention mechanisms associated with underground repositories for toxic wastes. Metal scavenging into calcite has generally been established in the laboratory or in natural environments that cannot be unreservedly applied to conditions in deep crystalline rocks, an environment of broad interest for nuclear waste repositories. Here, we report a microanalytical study of calcite precipitated over a period of 17 years from anoxic, low-temperature (14 °C), neutral (pH: 7.4-7.7), and brackish (Cl: 1700-7100 mg/L) groundwater flowing in fractures at >400 m depth in granite rock. This enabled assessment of the trace metal uptake by calcite under these deep-seated conditions. Aquatic speciation modeling was carried out to assess influence of metal complexation on the partitioning into calcite. The resulting environment-specific partition coefficients were for several divalent ions in line with values obtained in controlled laboratory experiments, whereas for several other ions they differed substantially. High absolute uptake of rare earth elements and U(IV) suggests that coprecipitation into calcite can be an important sink for these metals and analogousactinides in the vicinity of geological repositories.

The origin, source, and cycling of methane in deep crystalline rock biosphere

The emerging interest in using stable bedrock formations for industrial purposes, e.g., nuclear waste disposal, has increased the need for understanding microbiological and geochemical processes in deep crystalline rock environments, including the carbon cycle. Considering the origin and evolution of life on Earth, these environments may also serve as windows to the past. Various geological, chemical, and biological processes can influence the deep carbon cycle. Conditions of CH4 formation, available substrates and time scales can be drastically different from surface environments. This paper reviews the origin, source, and cycling of methane in deep terrestrial crystalline bedrock with an emphasis on microbiology. In addition to potential formation pathways of CH4, microbial consumption of CH4 is also discussed. Recent studies on the origin of CH4 in continental bedrock environments have shown that the traditional separation of biotic and abiotic CH4 by the isotopic composition can be misleading in substrate-limited environments, such as the deep crystalline bedrock. Despite of similarities between Precambrian continental sites in Fennoscandia, South Africa and North America, where deep methane cycling has been studied, common physicochemical properties which could explain the variation in the amount of CH4 and presence or absence of CH4 cycling microbes were not found. However, based on their preferred carbon metabolism, methanogenic microbes appeared to have similar spatial distribution among the different sites.

Extreme (13)C depletion of carbonates formed during oxidation of biogenic methane in fractured granite

Precipitation of exceptionally ¹³C-depleted authigenic carbonate is a result of, and thus a tracer for, sulphate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation, particularly in marine sediments. Although these carbonates typically are less depleted in ¹³C than in the source methane, because of incorporation of C also from other sources, they are far more depleted in ¹³C (δ¹³C as light as −69‰ V-PDB) than in carbonates formed where no methane is involved. Here we show that oxidation of biogenic methane in carbon-poor deep groundwater in fractured granitoid rocks has resulted in fracture-wall precipitation of the most extremely ¹³C-depleted carbonates ever reported, δ¹³C down to −125‰ V-PDB. A microbial consortium of sulphate reducers and methane oxidizers has been involved, as revealed by biomarker signatures in the carbonates and S-isotope compositions of co-genetic sulphide. Methane formed at shallow depths has been oxidized at several hundred metres depth at the transition to a deep-seated sulphate-rich saline water. This process is so far an unrecognized terrestrial sink of methane.

Precipitation of ¹³C-depleted authigenic carbonate is a tracer of sulphate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation, particularly in marine sediments. Here, the authors present extremely ¹³C-depleted carbonates from deep granitoid rocks suggesting the presence of microbial sulphate reducers and methane oxidisers.