InterRidge 2022 Webinar Series February
Title: Unveiling Microbial Life in the Deep Rocky Biosphere
Speaker: Yohey Suzuki (Associate Professor, University of Tokyo)
Day and Time: 8 am GMT (5 pm JST/KST), Thursday 24th February (45 min lecture, 15 min Q&A)
Zoom: https://snu-ac-kr.zoom.us/j/82747295627?pwd=UFYxOXlXb3A1RDZyamRoL2hxM2w0UT09
Meeting ID: 827 4729 5627
Passcode: 812177
Abstract:
High-temperature rock-water interactions produce vast chemical energy for life at the mid-ocean ridge. The transition from high- to low-temperature hydrothermal ridge flank systems substantially reduces the production of chemical energy in the oceanic crust after 10 million years after formation (Ma). In addition, the weakness of fluid circulation in the >10-Ma oceanic crust hinders fluid sampling from borehole-based observatories unlike young crust sites such as the Juan de Fuca Ridge (3.5 Ma) and North Pond (8 Ma). Oceanic crust sites (13.5, 33 and 104 Ma) were drilled into the basaltic basement in the South Pacific Gyre during IODP Expedition 329. Without sampling crustal fluids, it was technically challenging to characterize microbes in drilled basaltic cores. The first attempt was made for estimating the habitability of the rock interior by characterizing diagnostic products of low-temperature rock-water reactions such as smectite group minerals. We noticed Fe(III)-bearing smectite (nontronite) is not observed in 13.5-Ma core samples but in 33- and 104-Ma core samples (Yamashita et al. 2019). The second attempt was made to visualize microbial cells in association with Fe(III)-bearing smectite by developing a new method (details provided during the webinar!!). As a result, it was surprisingly unveiled that microbial cells were densely enrobed within smectite aggregates (Suzuki et al. 2020). Dense microbial cells were also observed in association with Fe(II)-bearing smectite (saponite), indicating that the anaerobic rock interior is also habitable at the 104-Ma site. These results support the habitability of the upper oceanic crust from the ridge to subduction zones. Hopefully, a next big question about “how deep” will be investigated by future deep drilling to the mantle.
References
Yamashita S, Mukai H, Tomioka N, Kagi H, Suzuki Y (2019) Iron-rich Smectite Formation in Subseafloor Basaltic Lava in Aged Oceanic Crust. Scientific Reports, 9, 11306.
Sueoka Y, Yamashita S, Kouduka M, Suzuki Y (2019) Deep microbial colonization in saponite-bearing fractures in aged basaltic crust: Implications for Subsurface Life on Mars. Frontiers in Microbiology. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02793.
Suzuki Y, Yamashita S, Kouduka M, Ao Y, Mukai H, Mitsunobu S, Kagi H, D'Hondt S, Inagaki F, Morono Y, Hoshino H, Tomioka N, Ito M (2020) Deep microbial proliferation at the basalt interface in 33.5-104 million-year-old oceanic crust. Communications Biology, DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-0860-1.
Main points
1. The old oceanic crust (13.5 to 104 Ma) was investigated by ocean scientific drilling.
2. Without collecting fluid samples, the habitability was estimated by the presence of smectite minerals in rock cores.
3. The dense occurrence of microbial cells was spatially correlated with the smectite minerals.
4. The habitability of the old oceanic crust could be global and extrapolated into the early biosphere on Earth and Mars.
Brief Information about Dr. Yohey Suzuki
Yohey Suzuki is an associate professor at Earth & Planetary Science Department, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo. He obtained his Ph.D. in Geomicrobiology from Geology and Geophysics Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002. He worked at JAMSTEC as a research scientist to explore deep-sea hydrothermal fields by submersibles. After moving to Geological Survey of Japan in 2005, his research targets were extended to the deep crustal biosphere accessed by underground facilities and ocean scientific drilling. He has been developing methods for microbiology, molecular biology, petrology, and mineralogy for revealing microbial ecology in deep igneous rocks and microbe-mineral interactions. His interest is on the origin of life and extraterrestrial life approached from the photosynthesis-independent ecosystem on Earth.
4th Baltic Earth conference
Last moment to submit abstract for 4th Baltic Earth conference that will take place in Jastarnia, Poland, 30.05 - 03.06.2022!
For more information visit: https://baltic.earth/hel2022
The 2022 Call for SCOR Working Groups is open!
The SCOR Secretariat invites proposals for new working groups to commence activities in late 2022.
Deadline for submission: 30 April 2022.
Click here for instructions, guidelines, and a template to help prepare the proposals.
The selection of the new SCOR working groups will take place at the 2022 SCOR Annual Meeting scheduled to take place in Busan, Korea, on the week of the 3-7 October 2022.
For more information, read the full call.
Russian Arctic - environmental geology and coastal processes
Dear colleagues,
According to our program for the Szczecin Marginal Seas Webinars during the Winter Semester 2021/2022 we invite you warmly for the Webinar to be held
on January 27, 2022, 2:00 pm (CET).
Please, join our online meeting for the lecture:
"Russian Arctic - environmental geology and coastal processes"
to be presented by
Dr. Daria Ryabchuk,
A.P. Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia
Abstract
The marginal seas of the Russian Arctic – Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas – cover an area (about 4 620 000 km2). Among the main environmental geological problems of the area permafrost melting (in contest of methane emission and its impact on climate change), coastal erosion (especially high-rate thermal erosion) and local sediment pollution should be mentioned. The entire coast east to the Pechora Sea (eastern Barents Sea) is located in the permafrost zone. Offshore, areas of continuous, discontinuous and insular submarine permafrost can be observed. Acceleration permafrost melting leads first of all onshore but also offshore to increasing methane emission, and problem of coastal erosion The total length of Russian Arctic marginal seas’ coastline is about 40000 km (24200 km shoreline of mainland and 14100 km of islands). More than 15000 km (or 38%) are eroding and retreating. On coasts composed of easily erodible Quaternary deposits (the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, the northern coast of Yamal Peninsula in the Kara Sea) the rate of shoreline retreat reaches 3-12 m/year as a result of thermal erosion. Shores consisted of unconsolidated sediments within permafrost areas show the highest erosion rates (up to 15-20 m/year). Since 2011, the Russian Research Geological Institute (VSEGEI) has conducted nearshore and coastal monitoring of White Sea and the Russian parts of the Barents and the Baltic Sea. Result of monitoring show close links between offshore geology, tectonics, and geomorphology with trends and rates of coastal erosion/accumulation. Uplifting coasts of Western Barents and White Sea located within Baltic Crystalline Shield do not suffer from coastal erosion, contrary to coast of Pechora Sea. It is important to mention, that coastal geological hazards can be considered to be climate-dependent, with a comprehensive understanding of the main trends of climate change being important for prediction and mitigation of future damage to coastal infrastructure and the elaboration of adaptation strategies. Coasts and bottom sediments of Western Arctic are higher polluted compared to Eastern Arctic where coast and sediment pollution can be observed just within local “hot spots”. In general, marine and coastal environment of the Eastern Russian Baltic Sea demonstrate low level of contamination. One of the most polluted areas in the Russian Arctic is a Kola Bay, where all kind of technogenic objects (from sunken vessels to household waste) can be found, and the bottom sediments are loaded with very high concentrations of hazardous substances, e.g. heavy metals.
The meeting room will be open from 1:30 pm (CET), but the seminar will begin at 2:00 pm (CET).
To join the meeting please use the link:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3a0ee21c3b364e4709810bc45b7fbb4284%40thread.tacv2/1643015897948?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22af892dd6-4563-4455-9c05-a398a43f2362%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%221e9df312-5fc1-4e40-bc0d-ab7f66ee7bd8%22%7d
or use the code: 2sc5rph
See you for the webinar,
with best regards,
Joanna Dudzińska-Nowak, Jan Harff, Andrzej Witkowski
Szczecin Marginal Seas Webinars' Conveners