Biogeochemical signals from deep microbial life in terrestrial crust

Suzuki, Yohei*; Konno, Yuta*; Fukuda, Akari*; Komatsu, Daisuke*; Hirota, Akinari*; Watanabe, Katsuaki*; Togo, Yoko*; Morikawa, Noritoshi*; Hagiwara, Hiroki; Aosai, Daisuke*; et al.

PLOS ONE (Internet), 9(12), p.e113063_1 - e113063_20, 2014/12

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113063

We present multi-isotopic evidence of microbially mediated sulfate reduction in a granitic aquifer, a representative of the terrestrial crust habitat. Deep groundwater of meteoric origin was collected from underground boreholes drilled into the Cretaceous Toki granite, central Japan. A large sulfur isotopic fractionation of 20-60 permil diagnostic to microbial sulfate reduction is associated with the investigated groundwater containing sulfate below 0.2 mM. In contrast, a small carbon isotopic fractionation ( 30 permil) is not indicative of methanogenesis. Our results demonstrate that the deep biosphere in the terrestrial crust is metabolically active and playing a crucial role in the formation of reducing groundwater even under low energy fluxes.