Evaluation of nutrient and energy sources of the deepest known serpentinite-hosted ecosystem using stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotopes

The Shinkai Seep Field (SSF) in the southern Mariana forearc discovered in 2010 is the deepest (~5,700 m in depth) known serpentinite-hosted ecosystem dominated by a vesicomyid clam, Calyptogena (Abyssogena) mariana. The pioneering study presumed that the animal communities are primary sustained by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-06, Vol.13 (6), p.e0199000-e0199000
Main Authors: Onishi, Yuji, Yamanaka, Toshiro, Okumura, Tomoyo, Kawagucci, Shinsuke, Watanabe, Hiromi Kayama, Ohara, Yasuhiko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bivalvia - physiology
Carbon
Carbon Isotopes - analysis
Chemistry
Chimneys
Communities
Crustaceans
Earth science
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
Energy resources
Energy sources
Energy-Generating Resources
Environmental aspects
Expeditions
Fluid
Fluid dynamics
Fluids
Geochemistry
Geologic Sediments
Hydrothermal Vents
Isotopes
Mantle
Molecular chains
Nitrogen
Nitrogen Isotopes - analysis
Nutrient sources
Nutrients
Nutrients - analysis
Organic chemistry
Organic matter
Peridotite
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis - physiology
Phyllochaetopterus
Physical Sciences
Polychaeta
Pore water
Seawater
Sediments
Serpentinite
Stable isotopes
Sulfur
Sulfur isotopes
Sulfur Isotopes - analysis
Systematics
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Summary:The Shinkai Seep Field (SSF) in the southern Mariana forearc discovered in 2010 is the deepest (~5,700 m in depth) known serpentinite-hosted ecosystem dominated by a vesicomyid clam, Calyptogena (Abyssogena) mariana. The pioneering study presumed that the animal communities are primary sustained by reducing fluid originated from the serpentinization of mantle peridotite. For understanding the nutrient and energy sources for the SSF community, this study conducted four expeditions to the SSF and collected additional animal samples such as polychaetes and crustaceans as well as sediments, fragments of chimneys developing on fissures of serpentinized peridotite, seeping fluid on the chimneys, and pore water within the chimneys. Geochemical analyses of seeping fluids on the chimneys and pore water of the chimneys revealed significantly high pH (~10) that suggest subseafloor serpentinization controlling fluid chemistry. Stable isotope systematics (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) among animals, inorganic molecules, and environmental organic matter suggest that the SSF animal community mostly relies on the chemosynthetic production while some organisms appear to partly benefit from photosynthetic production despite the great depth of SSF.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0199000