Hydrogen and carbon isotope geochemistry of freshwater aquifers at the Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory; Implications for ongoing biogeochemical processes in granitic rocks

Konno, Yuta*; Fukuda, Akari; Kozuka, Mariko*; Komatsu, Daisuke*; Tsunogai, Urumu*; Aosai, Daisuke; Mizuno, Takashi   ; Suzuki, Yohei*

Our knowledge of biogeochemical processes mediated in those associated with freshwater should be integrated. We collected the groundwater samples from 200 m to 1150 m depths below ground level at Mizunami Underground Research Laboratory located in central Japan. We measured the concentration and both hydrogen and carbon isotopic compositions of dissolved methane, total inorganic carbon (TIC) and molecular hydrogen. The origin of methane could be speculated to be not biogenic CO reduction or acetate fermentation but thermogenic or abiogenic. In contrast, C1/C2+C3 ratios supported biogenic methane production. The 300 m deep samples were enriched in hydrogen and acetate and depleted in sulfate, which is characteristic of acetogenesis. From these results, it is suggested that the production of acetate rather than methane could be dominant biogeochemical processes in the reducing portions of freshwater aquifers in granitic rocks.