Geochemistry of a continental site of serpentinization, the Tablelands Ophiolite, Gros Morne National Park: A Mars analogue

Szponar, Natalie; Brazelton, William J.; Schrenk, M. O.; Bower, D. M.; Steele, A.; Morrill, Penny L.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2012.07.004

Cited by 98 publications

(111 citation statements)

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“…The highly reducing conditions of the serpentinizing environment allows the development of abiotic organic compounds (Lang et al, 2010) and hosts a large and specific community of microorganisms (Brazelton et al, 2010(Brazelton et al, , 2006. Such hyperalkaline hydrothermal systems may have been numerous on the early Earth, as well as on the Martian surface (Szponar et al, 2012) and may have also been the locus of the emergence of earliest forms of life (Muntener, 2010;Russell, 2007;Russell et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the Lost City site focused the attention of the scientific community, low-temperature, high-pH hydrothermal systems have been previously reported on land in ophiolites at several locations over the world, such as in Oman (Barnes and O'Neil, 1969;Chavagnac et al, 2013b;Neal and Stanger, 1984b;Stanger, 1985), in Bosnia (Barnes et al, 1978), in northern Italy, Ligurian Alps, (Chavagnac et al, 2013b;Cipolli et al, 2004), in New Caledonia (Launay and Fontes, 1985), and more recently in Ontario (Sader et al, 2007), in Newfoundland (Szponar et al, 2012) and in California (Morrill et al, 2013). In ophiolites, hyperalkaline fluids derived from freshwater have low salinity and can mix with close-to-neutral continental runoff waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fluid chemistry of the low temperature hyperalkaline hydrothermal system of Prony Bay (New Caledonia)

et al. 2014

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Abstract. The terrestrial hyperalkaline springs of Prony Bay (southern lagoon, New Caledonia) have been known since the nineteenth century, but a recent high-resolution bathymetric survey of the seafloor has revealed the existence of numerous submarine structures similar to the well-known Aiguille de Prony, which are also the location of high-pH fluid discharge into the lagoon. During the HYDROPRONY cruise (28 October to 13 November 2011), samples of waters, gases and concretions were collected by scuba divers at underwater vents. Four of these sampling sites are located in Prony Bay at depths up to 50 m. One (Bain des Japonais spring) is also in Prony Bay but uncovered at low tide and another (Rivière des Kaoris spring) is on land slightly above the seawater level at high tide. We report the chemical composition (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cl, SO 4 , dissolved inorganic carbon, SiO 2 (aq)) of 45 water samples collected at six sites of high-pH water discharge, as well as the composition of gases.Temperatures reach 37 • C at the Bain des Japonais and 32 • C at the spring of the Kaoris. Gas bubbling was observed only at these two springs. The emitted gases contain between 12 and 30 % of hydrogen in volume of dry gas, 6 to 14 % of methane, and 56 to 72 % of nitrogen, with trace amounts of carbon dioxide, ethane and propane.pH values and salinities of all the 45 collected water samples range from the seawater values (8.2 and 35 g L −1 ) to hyperalkaline freshwaters of the Ca-OH type (pH 11 and salinities as low as 0.3 g L −1 ) showing that the collected samples are always a mixture of a hyperalkaline fluid of meteoric origin and ambient seawater. Cl-normalized concentrations of dissolved major elements first show that the Bain des Japonais is distinct from the other sites. Water collected at this site are three component mixtures involving the highpH fluid, the lagoon seawater and the river water from the nearby Rivière du Carénage. The chemical compositions of Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. C. Monnin et al.: Low temperature hyperalkaline hydrothermal system of Prony Baythe hyperalkaline endmembers (at pH 11) are not significantly different from one site to the other although the sites are several kilometres away from each other and are located on different ultramafic substrata. The very low salinity of the hyperalkaline endmembers shows that seawater does not percolate through the ultramafic formation.Mixing of the hyperalkaline hydrothermal endmember with local seawater produces large ranges and very sharp gradients of pH, salinity and dissolved element concentrations. There is a major change in the composition of the water samples at a pH around 10, which delimitates the marine environment from the hyperalkaline environment. The redox potential evolves toward negative values at high pH indicative of the reducing conditions due to bubbling of the H 2 -rich gas. The calculation of the mineral saturation states carried out for the Na-K-Ca-Mg-Cl-SO 4 -DIC-SiO 2 -H2O system shows...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid chemistry of the low temperature hyperalkaline hydrothermal system of Prony Bay (New Caledonia)

et al. 2014

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“…This is a common process at oceanic tectonic plate boundaries, where seawater interacts with deeply buried ultramafic rocks (e.g., the Lost City site located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) (3,4). In contrast, terrestrial active serpentinization sites are relatively rare, reported only in California (5-7), Portugal (8,9), Canada (10,11), Turkey (12), Oman, and Yugoslavia (6). Thus, despite the difficulties inherent in accessing the oceanic sites, most of our geobiological knowledge of serpentinization systems stems from studies of the Lost City complex (3,4,(13)(14)(15)(16).…”

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confidence: 99%

Microbial diversity in The Cedars, an ultrabasic, ultrareducing, and low salinity serpentinizing ecosystem

Suzuki

Ishii

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

113

204

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The Cedars, in coastal northern California, is an active site of peridotite serpentinization. The spring waters that emerge from this system feature very high pH, low redox potential, and low ionic concentrations, making it an exceptionally challenging environment for life. We report a multiyear, culture-independent geomicrobiological study of three springs at The Cedars that differ with respect to the nature of the groundwater feeding them. Within each spring, both geochemical properties and microbial diversity in all three domains of life remained stable over a 3-y period, with multiple samples each year. Between the three springs, however, the microbial communities showed considerable differences that were strongly correlated with the source of the serpentinizing groundwater. In the spring fed solely by deep groundwater, phylum Chloroflexi, class Clostridia, and candidate division OD1 were the major taxa with one phylotype in Euryarchaeota. Less-abundant phylotypes include several minor members from other candidate divisions and one phylotype that was an outlier of candidate division OP3. In the springs fed by the mixture of deep and shallow groundwater, organisms close to the Hydrogenophaga within Betaproteobacteria dominated and coexisted with the deep groundwater community members. The shallow groundwater community thus appears to be similar to those described in other terrestrial serpentinizing sites, whereas the deep community is distinctly different from any other previously described terrestrial serpentinizing community. These unique communities have the potential to yield important insights into the development and survival of life in these early-earth analog environments.biodiversity | extremophile | alkaliphile | small subunit rRNA | hydrogen

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“…Here we report on such a study of microbial communities associated with serpentinite springs of the Tablelands Ophiolite, Newfoundland, Canada (15). Ultramafic rocks of the Tablelands Ophiolite (also known as the Bay of Islands Ophiolite) were uplifted from the Iapetus Ocean and obducted onto the continental margin of Laurentia approximately 485 million years ago.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ultramafic rocks of the Tablelands Ophiolite (also known as the Bay of Islands Ophiolite) were uplifted from the Iapetus Ocean and obducted onto the continental margin of Laurentia approximately 485 million years ago. Serpen-tinization remains evident today in the form of highly reducing, ultrabasic springs at several sites (15). This study examines the fluids discharged from these springs for evidence that they contain microorganisms flushed from subsurface habitats where they were likely to have been supported by the products of serpentinization-associated processes.…”

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confidence: 99%

Bacterial Communities Associated with Subsurface Geochemical Processes in Continental Serpentinite Springs

Brazelton

Morrill

Szponar

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

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103

125

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Reactions associated with the geochemical process of serpentinization can generate copious quantities of hydrogen and low-molecular-weight organic carbon compounds, which may provide energy and nutrients to sustain subsurface microbial communities independently of the photosynthetically supported surface biosphere. Previous microbial ecology studies have tested this hypothesis in deep sea hydrothermal vents, such as the Lost City hydrothermal field. This study applied similar methods, including molecular fingerprinting and tag sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, to ultrabasic continental springs emanating from serpentinizing ultramafic rocks. These molecular surveys were linked with geochemical measurements of the fluids in an interdisciplinary approach designed to distinguish potential subsurface organisms from those derived from surface habitats. The betaproteobacterial genus Hydrogenophaga was identified as a likely inhabitant of transition zones where hydrogen-enriched subsurface fluids mix with oxygenated surface water. The Firmicutes genus Erysipelothrix was most strongly correlated with geochemical factors indicative of subsurface fluids and was identified as the most likely inhabitant of a serpentinization-powered subsurface biosphere. Both of these taxa have been identified in multiple hydrogen-enriched subsurface habitats worldwide, and the results of this study contribute to an emerging biogeographic pattern in which Betaproteobacteria occur in near-surface mixing zones and Firmicutes are present in deeper, anoxic subsurface habitats.

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Geochemistry of a continental site of serpentinization, the Tablelands Ophiolite, Gros Morne National Park: A Mars analogue

Cited by 98 publications

References 56 publications

Fluid chemistry of the low temperature hyperalkaline hydrothermal system of Prony Bay (New Caledonia)

Fluid chemistry of the low temperature hyperalkaline hydrothermal system of Prony Bay (New Caledonia)

Microbial diversity in The Cedars, an ultrabasic, ultrareducing, and low salinity serpentinizing ecosystem

Bacterial Communities Associated with Subsurface Geochemical Processes in Continental Serpentinite Springs

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