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The Vent and Seep Biota pp 73–106Cite as

Microbial Chemofossils in Specific Marine Hydrothermal and Methane Cold Seep Settings

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Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 33))

Abstract

Marine hydrothermal vent and cold seep settings fuel phylogenetically and ­metabolically diverse microbial communities. In contrast to most organisms on earth, which depend directly (photosynthesis) or indirectly (heterotroph) on sunlight, many prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria; Fig. 4.1) at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps use energy from the reduced chemicals that are emitted at these sites (Fisher et al. 2007 and references cited therein). Consequently, these environments are considered as oases of life in oceanic deep sea deserts. Since the first discovery of deep sea hydrothermal vent systems (Corliss et al. 1979) such settings have become fascinating study sites for multidisciplinary research. Geobiologists in particular are attracted by these settings, because diffusive vents and smokers were considered to have offered the most favorable conditions for the development of early life on Earth (Nisbet and Sleep 2001). In hydrothermal settings, the temperatures of the fluids may exceed 400°C (Haase et al. 2007), and mixing with cold sea water creates sharp physico-geochemical gradients with various microbiological niches. However, our knowledge of the functioning of microbial life in these environments is still very limited. Only recent technological developments and the routine operations of manned submersibles, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely ope­rated vehicles (ROVs) allow for detailed sampling, in situ experiments and visual inspections in the deep sea (e.g., Kelley et al. 2001, 2005; Teske et al. 2002; Nercessian et al. 2005; Inagaki et al. 2008; Haase et al. 2007; Perner et al. 2007; Nakagawa et al. 2008).

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Acknowledgements

I am very thankful to Walter Michaelis, Richard Seifert, Dietmar Keyser (all University of Hamburg), Karen Hissmann (IfM-GEOMAR Kiel), and MARUM (University of Bremen) for the permission to show photos. I thank Helge Niemann and Steffen Kiel for their careful reviews, considereably improving the manuscript. I thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support (DFG BL 971/1–1). Richard Seifert, Walter Michaelis and Volker Thiel (University of Göttingen) are also acknowledged for fruitful discussions.

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  1. Department of Geobiology, Geoscience Centre (GZG), Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstraße 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Martin Blumenberg

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    Steffen Kiel

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Blumenberg, M. (2010). Microbial Chemofossils in Specific Marine Hydrothermal and Methane Cold Seep Settings. In: Kiel, S. (eds) The Vent and Seep Biota. Topics in Geobiology, vol 33. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9572-5_4

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