Distribution characteristics of C-N-S microorganism genes in different
hydraulic zones of high rank coal reservoirs in southern Qinshui Basin
Abstract
Microbial decomposition of carbon and biogenic methane in coal is one of
the most important issues in CBM exploration. Microbial C-N-S functional
genes in different hydraulic zones of high rank coal reservoirs was
studied, demonstrating high sensitivity of this ecosystem to
hydrodynamic conditions. The results shows that hydrodynamic strength of
the 3# coal reservoir in Shizhuangnan block gradually weakened from
east to west, forming the transition feature from runoff area to
stagnant area. Compared with runoff area, the stagnant area has higher
reservoir pressure, gas content and ion concentrations. The relative
abundance of genes associated to C, N and S cycling was increased from
the runoff area to stagnant area, including cellulose degrading genes,
methane metabolism genes, N cycling genes and S cycling genes. This
indicates that the stagnant zone had more active microbial C-N-S cycle.
The machine learning model shows that these significantly different
genes could be used as effective index to distinguish runoff area and
stagnant area. Carbon and hydrogen isotopes indicate that methane in the
study area was thermally generated. The methanogens compete with
anaerobic heterotrophic bacteria to metabolize limited substrates,
resulting in low abundance of methanogens. Meanwhile, the existence of
methane oxidizing bacteria suggests biogenic methane was consumed by
methanotrophic bacteria, which is the main reason why biogenic methane
in the study area was not effectively preserved. In addition, weakened
hydrodynamic conditions increased genes involved in nutrient cycling
contributed to the increase of CO2 and consumption of
sulfate and nitrate from runoff area to stagnant area.