Archaeal Biomarker Records in Marine Sediments Impacted by Methane
Transport: Insights from Peru Margin
Abstract
The transport of methane from deep sediments towards the seafloor is
widespread in ocean margins and has important biogeochemical
implications for the deep ocean [1]. A significant portion
(>80%) of methane entering the shallow sediments from
below at present is oxidized by microbially-driven anaerobic oxidation
of methane (AOM), which mainly involves a microbial consortium of
anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria.
Isoprenoid Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) derived from
core lipid membranes of ANMEs are often well preserved in sediment
records. Methane Index (MI) is an organic geochemical proxy for methane
seepage intensity which weighs in the relative proportion of GDGTs
(GDGT-1,-2, and -3) preferentially synthesized by ANMEs with that of
non-methane-related biomarker contribution from planktonic and benthic
sources (Crenarchaeols) [2]. This study analyzed the GDGT
composition of sedimentary core lipids from IODP Site 1230 (Peru Margin)
using two silica columns and a high-resolution and accurate mass
Orbitrap Fusion Mass Spectrometer. Our results report novel GDGT isomers
with concentration peaking at the Sulfate-Methane Transition Zones
(SMTZ) with the highest AOM activity around 8 mbsf. Further, these
isomers were almost absent above and below the SMTZ. Our observations
suggest that these characteristic isomers of GDGT compounds preserved at
the SMTZ depth are sourced from ANMEs. Identification of these novel
isomers has important implications in refining the MI and additional
GDGT based palaeoceanographic proxies like TEX86. 1. Akam et al. (2020),
Frontiers in Marine Science 7, 206. 2. Y. G. Zhang et al. (2011), Earth
and Planetary Science Letters 307, 525-534.