We studied microbially mediated diagenetic processes driven by carbon mineralization in subseafloor sediment of the northeastern Bering Sea Slope to a depth of 745 meters below seafloor (mbsf). Sites U1343, U1344 and U1345 were drilled during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 323 at water depths of 1008 to 3172 m. They are situated in the high productivity “Green Belt” region, with organic carbon burial rates typical of the high-productivity upwelling domains on western continental margins. The three sites show strong geochemical similarities. The downward sequence of microbially mediated processes in the sediment encompasses (1) organoclastic sulfate reduction, (2) anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction, and (3) methanogenesis. The sediment contains two distinct zones of diagenetic carbonate formation, located at the sulfate–methane transition zone (SMTZ) and between 300 and 400 mbsf. The SMTZ at the three sites is located between 6 and 9 mbsf. The upward methane fluxes into the SMTZ are similar to fluxes in SMTZs underlying high-productivity surface waters off Chile and Namibia. Our Bering Sea results show that intense organic carbon mineralization drives high ammonium and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) production rates (> 4.2 mmol m− 3 y− 1) in the uppermost 10 mbsf and strongly imprints on the stable carbon isotope composition of DIC, driving it to a minimum value of − 27‰ (VPDB) at the SMTZ. Pore-water calcium and magnesium profiles demonstrate formation of diagenetic Mg-rich calcite in the SMTZ. Below the SMTZ, methanogenesis results in 13C-enrichment of pore-water DIC, with a maximum value of + 11.9‰. The imprint of methanogenesis on the DIC carbon isotope composition is evident down to a depth of 150 mbsf. Below this depth, slow or absent microbially mediated carbon mineralization leaves DIC isotope composition unaffected. Ongoing carbonate formation between 300 and 400 mbsf strongly influences pore-water DIC and magnesium concentration profiles. The linked succession of organic carbon mineralization and carbonate dissolution and precipitation patterns that we observe in the Bering Sea Slope sediment may be representative of passive continental margin settings in high-productivity areas of the world’s ocean.
The depth of oxygen penetration into marine sediments differs considerably from one region to another. In areas with high rates of microbial respiration, O2 penetrates only millimetres to centimetres into the sediments, but active anaerobic microbial communities are present in sediments hundreds of metres or more below the sea floor. In areas with low sedimentary respiration, O2 penetrates much deeper but the depth to which microbial communities persist was previously unknown. The sediments underlying the South Pacific Gyre exhibit extremely low areal rates of respiration. Here we show that, in this region, microbial cells and aerobic respiration persist through the entire sediment sequence to depths of at least 75 metres below sea floor. Based on the Redfield stoichiometry of dissolved O2 and nitrate, we suggest that net aerobic respiration in these sediments is coupled to oxidation of marine organic matter. We identify a relationship of O2 penetration depth to sedimentation rate and sediment thickness. Extrapolating this relationship, we suggest that oxygen and aerobic communities may occur throughout the entire sediment sequence in 15–44% of the Pacific and 9–37% of the global sea floor. Subduction of the sediment and basalt from these regions is a source of oxidized material to the mantle.
The western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a region underlying the oligotrophic waters of the central Atlantic. The seafloor along portions of this ridge is characterized by sediment-filled depressions, which are surrounded by steep basaltic outcrops. We present pore fluid and sediment solid-phase chemical data from fourteen gravity cores from “North Pond”, a sediment pond where previous drilling work indicated directed flow of seawater within the basement. Sediment lithology is broadly characterized as a nannofossil pelagic sediment containing varying amounts of clay, foraminifers, and Mn-micronodules and typically contains less than 0.3% organic carbon and ~ 70% calcium carbonate. Consistent with its location within an oligotrophic ocean gyre, oxygen and nitrate penetrated deeply into the sediment package. However there is significant spatial variability in the pore fluid nitrate and oxygen profiles, with oxygen generally lower and nitrate higher toward the center of the basin as compared to the edges. In addition, oxygen increased with sediment depth at a number of sites toward the edges of the pond, where sediment cover was thinnest. We interpret these oxygen distributions to indicate that there is upward diffusion of dissolved oxygen from the underlying basaltic basement fluid and the sediment package, and this process appears to be regionally pervasive. Pore fluid molybdenum generally decreases with depth and exhibits spatial variability similar to dissolved oxygen and nitrate. Molybdenum is likely being taken up at depth via adsorption onto manganese oxides, as these sediments are rich in manganese (~ 300–3000 ppm Mn) and molybdenum (~ 2–14 ppm Mo). The strong geographical variations in pore fluid chemistry coupled with the co-variation between molybdenum and oxygen, two species that we would not necessarily expect to be coupled, suggest that diffusion of dissolved constituents into the sediment package from below plays an important role in determining the chemistry of the overlying sediment.
