A late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) deep-sea, low-temperature, iron-oxidizing microbial hydrothermal vent community from Arizona, USA

Crispin T.S. Little; Karen C. Johannessen; Stefan Bengtson; Clara S. Chan; Magnus Ivarsson; John F. Slack; Curt Broman; Ingunn H. Thorseth; Tor Grenne; Olivier J. Rouxel; Andrey Bekker

doi:10.1111/gbi.12434

A late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) deep-sea, low-temperature, iron-oxidizing microbial hydrothermal vent community from Arizona, USA

Crispin T.S. Little^*
, Karen C. Johannessen
, Stefan Bengtson
, Clara S. Chan
, Magnus Ivarsson
, John F. Slack
, Curt Broman
, Ingunn H. Thorseth
, Tor Grenne
, Olivier J. Rouxel
, Andrey Bekker

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Leeds
University of Bergen
University of Delaware
National Minerals Information Center
Stockholm University
Geological Survey of Norway
University of California
University of Johannesburg
Swedish Museum of Natural History
Marine Geosciences Research Unit

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Modern marine hydrothermal vents occur in a wide variety of tectonic settings and are characterized by seafloor emission of fluids rich in dissolved chemicals and rapid mineral precipitation. Some hydrothermal systems vent only low-temperature Fe-rich fluids, which precipitate deposits dominated by iron oxyhydroxides, in places together with Mn-oxyhydroxides and amorphous silica. While a proportion of this mineralization is abiogenic, most is the result of the metabolic activities of benthic, Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), principally belonging to the Zetaproteobacteria. These micro-organisms secrete micrometer-scale stalks, sheaths, and tubes with a variety of morphologies, composed largely of ferrihydrite that act as sacrificial structures, preventing encrustation of the cells that produce them. Cultivated marine FeOB generally require neutral pH and microaerobic conditions to grow. Here, we describe the morphology and mineralogy of filamentous microstructures from a late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) jasper (Fe-oxide-silica) deposit from the Jerome area of the Verde mining district in central Arizona, USA, that resemble the branching tubes formed by some modern marine FeOB. On the basis of this comparison, we interpret the Jerome area filaments as having formed by FeOB on the deep seafloor, at the interface of weakly oxygenated seawater and low-temperature Fe-rich hydrothermal fluids. We compare the Jerome area filaments with other purported examples of Precambrian FeOB and discuss the implications of their presence for existing redox models of Paleoproterozoic oceans during the “Boring Billion.”.

Original language	English
Journal	Geobiology
Volume	19
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	228-249
ISSN	1472-4677
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12434
Publication status	Published - May 2021

Funding

Research Council of Norway Grant (197411/V30). Swedish Research Council Contracts No. 2012‐4364 and 2017‐04129. Villum Investigator Grant (No. 16518). We are especially indebted to the late Paul Lindberg who provided guidance during fieldwork. CTSL thanks Simon Poulton for discussions about Proterozoic and Archaean paleoceanography. The Research Council of Norway is acknowledged for support to the NTNU NanoLab (Trondheim) through the Norwegian Micro‐ and Nano‐Fabrication Facility, NorFab (197411/V30), and NORTEM infrastructure Grant 197405, TEM Gemini Centre, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. TEM work was funded by the Bergen Research Foundation through a grant awarded to Nicola McLoughlin. Per Erik Vullum is thanked for invaluable assistance with the FIB‐TEM analyses. Raman spectroscopy was funded through Swedish Research Council Contracts No. 2012‐4364 and 2017‐04129, and a Villum Investigator Grant to Don Canfield (No. 16518). We acknowledge the Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland, for provision of synchrotron radiation beamtime at the TOMCAT beamline X02DA of the SLS and thank Federica Marone for assistance. AB acknowledges support from NSERC Discovery and Accelerator programs and the University of Johannesburg in the form of a Distinguished Visiting Professorship. We thank three anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the paper.

Keywords

Arizona
Fe-oxidizing bacteria
hydrothermal vents
jasper
late Paleoproterozoic
Verde mining district
Iron/analysis
Oceans and Seas
Temperature
Hydrothermal Vents
Oxidation-Reduction
Seawater

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@article{0bd7db320266461b8924d10399019e14,

title = "A late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) deep-sea, low-temperature, iron-oxidizing microbial hydrothermal vent community from Arizona, USA",

abstract = "Modern marine hydrothermal vents occur in a wide variety of tectonic settings and are characterized by seafloor emission of fluids rich in dissolved chemicals and rapid mineral precipitation. Some hydrothermal systems vent only low-temperature Fe-rich fluids, which precipitate deposits dominated by iron oxyhydroxides, in places together with Mn-oxyhydroxides and amorphous silica. While a proportion of this mineralization is abiogenic, most is the result of the metabolic activities of benthic, Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), principally belonging to the Zetaproteobacteria. These micro-organisms secrete micrometer-scale stalks, sheaths, and tubes with a variety of morphologies, composed largely of ferrihydrite that act as sacrificial structures, preventing encrustation of the cells that produce them. Cultivated marine FeOB generally require neutral pH and microaerobic conditions to grow. Here, we describe the morphology and mineralogy of filamentous microstructures from a late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) jasper (Fe-oxide-silica) deposit from the Jerome area of the Verde mining district in central Arizona, USA, that resemble the branching tubes formed by some modern marine FeOB. On the basis of this comparison, we interpret the Jerome area filaments as having formed by FeOB on the deep seafloor, at the interface of weakly oxygenated seawater and low-temperature Fe-rich hydrothermal fluids. We compare the Jerome area filaments with other purported examples of Precambrian FeOB and discuss the implications of their presence for existing redox models of Paleoproterozoic oceans during the {\textquotedblleft}Boring Billion.{\textquotedblright}.",

keywords = "Arizona, Fe-oxidizing bacteria, hydrothermal vents, jasper, late Paleoproterozoic, Verde mining district, Iron/analysis, Oceans and Seas, Temperature, Hydrothermal Vents, Oxidation-Reduction, Seawater",

author = "Little, \{Crispin T.S.\} and Johannessen, \{Karen C.\} and Stefan Bengtson and Chan, \{Clara S.\} and Magnus Ivarsson and Slack, \{John F.\} and Curt Broman and Thorseth, \{Ingunn H.\} and Tor Grenne and Rouxel, \{Olivier J.\} and Andrey Bekker",

note = "Funding Information: Research Council of Norway Grant (197411/V30). Swedish Research Council Contracts No. 2012‐4364 and 2017‐04129. Villum Investigator Grant (No. 16518). Funding Information: We are especially indebted to the late Paul Lindberg who provided guidance during fieldwork. CTSL thanks Simon Poulton for discussions about Proterozoic and Archaean paleoceanography. The Research Council of Norway is acknowledged for support to the NTNU NanoLab (Trondheim) through the Norwegian Micro‐ and Nano‐Fabrication Facility, NorFab (197411/V30), and NORTEM infrastructure Grant 197405, TEM Gemini Centre, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. TEM work was funded by the Bergen Research Foundation through a grant awarded to Nicola McLoughlin. Per Erik Vullum is thanked for invaluable assistance with the FIB‐TEM analyses. Raman spectroscopy was funded through Swedish Research Council Contracts No. 2012‐4364 and 2017‐04129, and a Villum Investigator Grant to Don Canfield (No. 16518). We acknowledge the Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland, for provision of synchrotron radiation beamtime at the TOMCAT beamline X02DA of the SLS and thank Federica Marone for assistance. AB acknowledges support from NSERC Discovery and Accelerator programs and the University of Johannesburg in the form of a Distinguished Visiting Professorship. We thank three anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Geobiology published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

doi = "10.1111/gbi.12434",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "228--249",

journal = "Geobiology",

issn = "1472-4677",

publisher = "Wiley",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) deep-sea, low-temperature, iron-oxidizing microbial hydrothermal vent community from Arizona, USA

AU - Little, Crispin T.S.

AU - Johannessen, Karen C.

AU - Bengtson, Stefan

AU - Chan, Clara S.

AU - Ivarsson, Magnus

AU - Slack, John F.

AU - Broman, Curt

AU - Thorseth, Ingunn H.

AU - Grenne, Tor

AU - Rouxel, Olivier J.

AU - Bekker, Andrey

N1 - Funding Information: Research Council of Norway Grant (197411/V30). Swedish Research Council Contracts No. 2012‐4364 and 2017‐04129. Villum Investigator Grant (No. 16518). Funding Information: We are especially indebted to the late Paul Lindberg who provided guidance during fieldwork. CTSL thanks Simon Poulton for discussions about Proterozoic and Archaean paleoceanography. The Research Council of Norway is acknowledged for support to the NTNU NanoLab (Trondheim) through the Norwegian Micro‐ and Nano‐Fabrication Facility, NorFab (197411/V30), and NORTEM infrastructure Grant 197405, TEM Gemini Centre, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. TEM work was funded by the Bergen Research Foundation through a grant awarded to Nicola McLoughlin. Per Erik Vullum is thanked for invaluable assistance with the FIB‐TEM analyses. Raman spectroscopy was funded through Swedish Research Council Contracts No. 2012‐4364 and 2017‐04129, and a Villum Investigator Grant to Don Canfield (No. 16518). We acknowledge the Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland, for provision of synchrotron radiation beamtime at the TOMCAT beamline X02DA of the SLS and thank Federica Marone for assistance. AB acknowledges support from NSERC Discovery and Accelerator programs and the University of Johannesburg in the form of a Distinguished Visiting Professorship. We thank three anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the paper. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Geobiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Modern marine hydrothermal vents occur in a wide variety of tectonic settings and are characterized by seafloor emission of fluids rich in dissolved chemicals and rapid mineral precipitation. Some hydrothermal systems vent only low-temperature Fe-rich fluids, which precipitate deposits dominated by iron oxyhydroxides, in places together with Mn-oxyhydroxides and amorphous silica. While a proportion of this mineralization is abiogenic, most is the result of the metabolic activities of benthic, Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), principally belonging to the Zetaproteobacteria. These micro-organisms secrete micrometer-scale stalks, sheaths, and tubes with a variety of morphologies, composed largely of ferrihydrite that act as sacrificial structures, preventing encrustation of the cells that produce them. Cultivated marine FeOB generally require neutral pH and microaerobic conditions to grow. Here, we describe the morphology and mineralogy of filamentous microstructures from a late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) jasper (Fe-oxide-silica) deposit from the Jerome area of the Verde mining district in central Arizona, USA, that resemble the branching tubes formed by some modern marine FeOB. On the basis of this comparison, we interpret the Jerome area filaments as having formed by FeOB on the deep seafloor, at the interface of weakly oxygenated seawater and low-temperature Fe-rich hydrothermal fluids. We compare the Jerome area filaments with other purported examples of Precambrian FeOB and discuss the implications of their presence for existing redox models of Paleoproterozoic oceans during the “Boring Billion.”.

AB - Modern marine hydrothermal vents occur in a wide variety of tectonic settings and are characterized by seafloor emission of fluids rich in dissolved chemicals and rapid mineral precipitation. Some hydrothermal systems vent only low-temperature Fe-rich fluids, which precipitate deposits dominated by iron oxyhydroxides, in places together with Mn-oxyhydroxides and amorphous silica. While a proportion of this mineralization is abiogenic, most is the result of the metabolic activities of benthic, Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), principally belonging to the Zetaproteobacteria. These micro-organisms secrete micrometer-scale stalks, sheaths, and tubes with a variety of morphologies, composed largely of ferrihydrite that act as sacrificial structures, preventing encrustation of the cells that produce them. Cultivated marine FeOB generally require neutral pH and microaerobic conditions to grow. Here, we describe the morphology and mineralogy of filamentous microstructures from a late Paleoproterozoic (1.74 Ga) jasper (Fe-oxide-silica) deposit from the Jerome area of the Verde mining district in central Arizona, USA, that resemble the branching tubes formed by some modern marine FeOB. On the basis of this comparison, we interpret the Jerome area filaments as having formed by FeOB on the deep seafloor, at the interface of weakly oxygenated seawater and low-temperature Fe-rich hydrothermal fluids. We compare the Jerome area filaments with other purported examples of Precambrian FeOB and discuss the implications of their presence for existing redox models of Paleoproterozoic oceans during the “Boring Billion.”.

KW - Arizona

KW - Fe-oxidizing bacteria

KW - hydrothermal vents

KW - jasper

KW - late Paleoproterozoic

KW - Verde mining district

KW - Iron/analysis

KW - Oceans and Seas

KW - Temperature

KW - Hydrothermal Vents

KW - Oxidation-Reduction

KW - Seawater

U2 - 10.1111/gbi.12434

DO - 10.1111/gbi.12434

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33594795

AN - SCOPUS:85100874649

SN - 1472-4677

VL - 19

SP - 228

EP - 249

JO - Geobiology

JF - Geobiology

IS - 3

ER -