Publication Date:
2002-03-16
Description:
Global maps of sulfate and methane in marine sediments reveal two provinces of subsurface metabolic activity: a sulfate-rich open-ocean province, and an ocean-margin province where sulfate is limited to shallow sediments. Methane is produced in both regions but is abundant only in sulfate-depleted sediments. Metabolic activity is greatest in narrow zones of sulfate-reducing methane oxidation along ocean margins. The metabolic rates of subseafloor life are orders of magnitude lower than those of life on Earth's surface. Most microorganisms in subseafloor sediments are either inactive or adapted for extraordinarily low metabolic activity.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉D'Hondt, Steven -- Rutherford, Scott -- Spivack, Arthur J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2002 Mar 15;295(5562):2067-70.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA. dhondt@gso.uri.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11896277" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Adaptation, Physiological
;
Bacteria/*metabolism
;
Biomass
;
Diffusion
;
Ecosystem
;
Electron Transport
;
Euryarchaeota/*metabolism
;
Fermentation
;
Geologic Sediments/*microbiology
;
Methane/*metabolism
;
Oceans and Seas
;
Oxidation-Reduction
;
*Seawater/microbiology
;
Sulfates/*metabolism
;
Thermodynamics
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
