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Methane-derived carbonate build-ups and associated microbial communities at cold seeps on the lower Crimean shelf (Black Sea)

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Abstract

In the euxinic waters of the NW’ Black Sea shelf, tower-like carbonate build-ups up to several metres in height grow at sites of cold methane seepage. These structures are part of an unique microbial ecosystem that shows a considerable biodiversity and a remarkable degree of organization. The accretion of the build-ups is promoted by the growth of centimetre-sized, methane-filled spheres constructed by calcifying microbial mats. Progressive mineralization of these spheres involves the early precipitation of strongly luminescent high-Mg-calcite rich in iron sulphides, and closely interfingered aragonite phases that finally create the stable (mega-) thrombolithic fabric of the towers. Within the microbial mats, microorganisms occur in distinctive spatial arrangements. Major players among the microbial consortia are the archaea groups ANME-1 and ANME-2, Crenarchaeota, and sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) of the Desulfosarcina/Desulfobacterium group. The intracellular precipitation of iron sulphides (greigite) by some of these bacteria, growing in close association with ANME-2, suggests iron cycling as an additional biogeochemical pathway involved in the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM).

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Erik Flügel. Always being open to new ideas, he promoted our work and stimulated our scientific development with great emphasis. He was more than a colleague. We thank the crew of the R/V ‘Professor Logachev’ for excellent collaboration during the cruise and Martin Ischebek for the on-board fixation of biological samples. We are grateful to Joachim Hoefs, Bent T. Hansen, Andreas Kronz (all GZG, Göttingen) and Michael Joachimski (Erlangen) for analytical assistance. This study received financial support through program GHOSTDABS (03G0559A) of the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GEOTECHNOLOGIEN). This is publication No. 11 of the research program GHOSTDABS, and publication No. RCOM0298 of the DFG-Research Center for Ocean Margins

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  1. Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universität Göttingen GZG, Goldschmidtstraße 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Joachim Reitner, Andreas Reimer, Gabriela Schumann & Volker Thiel

  2. Forschungszentrum Ozeanränder, Universität Bremen, Postfach 330440, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Jörn Peckmann

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  1. Joachim Reitner
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Correspondence to Joachim Reitner.

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Reitner, J., Peckmann, J., Reimer, A. et al. Methane-derived carbonate build-ups and associated microbial communities at cold seeps on the lower Crimean shelf (Black Sea). Facies 51, 66–79 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-005-0059-4

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