Metabolic Activity of Subsurface Life in Deep-Sea Sediments
Top Cited Papers
- 15 March 2002
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 295 (5562) , 2067-2070
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064878
Abstract
Global maps of sulfate and methane in marine sediments reveal two provinces of subsurface metabolic activity: a sulfate-rich open-ocean province, and an ocean-margin province where sulfate is limited to shallow sediments. Methane is produced in both regions but is abundant only in sulfate-depleted sediments. Metabolic activity is greatest in narrow zones of sulfate-reducing methane oxidation along ocean margins. The metabolic rates of subseafloor life are orders of magnitude lower than those of life on Earth's surface. Most microorganisms in subseafloor sediments are either inactive or adapted for extraordinarily low metabolic activity.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- On the fate of past gas: What happens to methane released from a bacterially mediated gas hydrate capacitor?Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 2001
- Tracer-Based Estimates of Drilling-Induced Microbial Contamination of Deep Sea CrustGeomicrobiology Journal, 2000
- Computer simulation of deep sulfate reduction in sediments of the Amazon FanInternational Journal of Earth Sciences, 2000
- Photosynthetic rates derived from satellite‐based chlorophyll concentrationLimnology and Oceanography, 1997
- Deep bacterial biosphere in Pacific Ocean sedimentsNature, 1994
- Gas hydrates—geological perspective and global changeReviews of Geophysics, 1993
- Sulfate reduction in deep-sea sedimentsAmerican Journal of Science, 1991
- Utilization of hydrogen, acetate, and “noncompetitive”; substrates by methanogenic bacteria in marine sedimentsGeomicrobiology Journal, 1984
- Early oxidation of organic matter in pelagic sediments of the eastern equatorial Atlantic: suboxic diagenesisGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1979
- A comparison of methods for the quantification of bacterial sulfate reduction in coastal marine sedimentsGeomicrobiology Journal, 1978