Department of Earth Sciences, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, Yunnan, China.
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Paleobiology & MEC International Joint Laboratory for Paleobiology and Paleoenvironment, Institute of Paleontology, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 19;13(1):11650. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38827-x.
Mediation by sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) is responsible for pyrite (FeS) formation. The origin of the Dachang tin polymetallic ore field is related to the mineralisation of submarine hydrothermal vent sediments. Here, we investigated SRB in these ores via morphological, chemical, and isotopic analyses. Polarised and scanning electron microscopy indicated that trace SRB fossils in the metal sulphide ore were present in the form of tubular, beaded, and coccoidal bodies comprising FeS and were enclosed within a pyrrhotite (FeS) matrix in the vicinity of micro-hydrothermal vents. The carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O) contents in the FeS synthesised by SRB were high, and a clear biological Raman signal was detected. No such signals were discerned in the peripheral FeS. This co-occurrence of FeS, FeS, and the remains of bacteria (probably chemoautotrophic bacteria) was interpreted as the coprecipitation process of SRB-mediated FeS formation, which has, to the best of our knowledge, not been reported before. Our study also illustrates that combined energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and isotopic analysis can be used as a novel methodology to document microbial-mediated processes of mineral deposition in submarine hydrothermal vent ecology on geological time scales.
硫酸盐还原菌(SRB)的介导作用是黄铁矿(FeS)形成的原因。大厂锡多金属矿田的成因与海底热液喷口沉积物的矿化作用有关。在这里,我们通过形态、化学和同位素分析研究了这些矿石中的 SRB。偏光和扫描电子显微镜表明,金属硫化物矿石中痕量的 SRB 化石以管状、珠状和球形体的形式存在,由 FeS 组成,并被包裹在微热液喷口附近的磁黄铁矿(FeS)基质内。SRB 合成的 FeS 中的碳(C)、氮(N)和氧(O)含量较高,并且检测到清晰的生物拉曼信号。在周边的 FeS 中则没有检测到这种信号。这种 FeS、FeS 和细菌(可能是化能自养细菌)残留物的共存被解释为 SRB 介导的 FeS 形成的共沉淀过程,据我们所知,这在以前的研究中尚未报道过。我们的研究还表明,结合能量色散 X 射线光谱、拉曼光谱和同位素分析可以作为一种新的方法,用于记录地质时间尺度上海底热液喷口生态系统中微生物介导的矿物沉积过程。