Ideas and perspectives: Hydrothermally driven redistribution and sequestration of early Archaean biomass—the ‘hydrothermal pump hypothesis’
2017 | preprint. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.
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Ideas and perspectives: Hydrothermally driven redistribution and sequestration of early Archaean biomass—the ‘hydrothermal pump hypothesis’
Duda, J.-P. ; Thiel, V. ; Bauersachs, T.; Mißbach, H. ; Reinhardt, M. ; Schäfer, N. & Van Kranendonk, M. J. et al. (2017). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-516
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Details
- Authors
- Duda, Jan-Peter ; Thiel, Volker ; Bauersachs, Thorsten; Mißbach, Helge ; Reinhardt, Manuel ; Schäfer, Nadine ; Van Kranendonk, Martin J.; Reitner, Joachim
- Abstract
- Archaean hydrothermal chert veins commonly contain abundant organic carbon of uncertain origin (abiotic vs. biotic). In this study, we analysed kerogen contained in a hydrothermal chert vein from the ca. 3.5 Ga old Dresser Formation (Pilbara Craton, Western Australia). Catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) of this kerogen yielded n-alkanes up to n-C22, with a sharp decrease in abundance beyond n-18. A very similar distribution (≤ n-C18) was observed in HyPy products of preextracted recent bacterial biomass, while abiotic compounds synthesised via Fischer-Tropsch-type synthesis exhibited a modal distribution. We therefore propose that the original organic matter in the Archaean chert veins has a primarily microbial origin. We hypothesise that the microbially-derived organic matter accumulated in different aquatic and subsurface Dresser environments, and was then assimilated, redistributed and sequestered by hydrothermal fluids (‘hydrothermal pump hypothesis’).
- Issue Date
- 2017
- Organization
- Abteilung Geobiologie
- Extent
- 26
- Language
- English