Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N
Fossil benthic foraminifera are used to trace past methane release linked to climate change. However, it is still debated whether isotopic signatures of living foraminifera from methane-charged sediments reflect incorporation of methane-derived carbon. A deeper understanding of isotopic signatures o...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt5ch2w82q 2023-11-12T04:12:36+01:00 Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N Melaniuk, Katarzyna Sztybor, Kamila Treude, Tina Sommer, Stefan Rasmussen, Tine L 1169 2022-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ch2w82q unknown eScholarship, University of California qt5ch2w82q https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ch2w82q public Scientific Reports, vol 12, iss 1 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Geochemistry Geology Life Below Water Anaerobiosis Arctic Regions Carbon Cycle Foraminifera Geologic Sediments Global Warming Methane Oxidation-Reduction article 2022 ftcdlib 2023-10-16T18:05:37Z Fossil benthic foraminifera are used to trace past methane release linked to climate change. However, it is still debated whether isotopic signatures of living foraminifera from methane-charged sediments reflect incorporation of methane-derived carbon. A deeper understanding of isotopic signatures of living benthic foraminifera from methane-rich environments will help to improve reconstructions of methane release in the past and better predict the impact of future climate warming on methane seepage. Here, we present isotopic signatures (δ13C and δ18O) of foraminiferal calcite together with biogeochemical data from Arctic seep environments from c. 1200m water depth, Vestnesa Ridge, 79° N, Fram Strait. Lowest δ13C values were recorded in shells of Melonis barleeanus, -5.2‰ in live specimens and -6.5‰ in empty shells, from sediments dominated by aerobic (MOx) and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), respectively. Our data indicate that foraminifera actively incorporate methane-derived carbon when living in sediments with moderate seepage activity, while in sediments with high seepage activity the poisonous sulfidic environment leads to death of the foraminifera and an overgrowth of their empty shells by methane-derived authigenic carbonates. We propose that the incorporation of methane-derived carbon in living foraminifera occurs via feeding on methanotrophic bacteria and/or incorporation of ambient dissolved inorganic carbon. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Foraminifera* Fram Strait Global warming University of California: eScholarship Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Geochemistry Geology Life Below Water Anaerobiosis Arctic Regions Carbon Cycle Foraminifera Geologic Sediments Global Warming Methane Oxidation-Reduction |
spellingShingle |
Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Geochemistry Geology Life Below Water Anaerobiosis Arctic Regions Carbon Cycle Foraminifera Geologic Sediments Global Warming Methane Oxidation-Reduction Melaniuk, Katarzyna Sztybor, Kamila Treude, Tina Sommer, Stefan Rasmussen, Tine L Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N |
topic_facet |
Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Climate Change Science Geochemistry Geology Life Below Water Anaerobiosis Arctic Regions Carbon Cycle Foraminifera Geologic Sediments Global Warming Methane Oxidation-Reduction |
description |
Fossil benthic foraminifera are used to trace past methane release linked to climate change. However, it is still debated whether isotopic signatures of living foraminifera from methane-charged sediments reflect incorporation of methane-derived carbon. A deeper understanding of isotopic signatures of living benthic foraminifera from methane-rich environments will help to improve reconstructions of methane release in the past and better predict the impact of future climate warming on methane seepage. Here, we present isotopic signatures (δ13C and δ18O) of foraminiferal calcite together with biogeochemical data from Arctic seep environments from c. 1200m water depth, Vestnesa Ridge, 79° N, Fram Strait. Lowest δ13C values were recorded in shells of Melonis barleeanus, -5.2‰ in live specimens and -6.5‰ in empty shells, from sediments dominated by aerobic (MOx) and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), respectively. Our data indicate that foraminifera actively incorporate methane-derived carbon when living in sediments with moderate seepage activity, while in sediments with high seepage activity the poisonous sulfidic environment leads to death of the foraminifera and an overgrowth of their empty shells by methane-derived authigenic carbonates. We propose that the incorporation of methane-derived carbon in living foraminifera occurs via feeding on methanotrophic bacteria and/or incorporation of ambient dissolved inorganic carbon. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Melaniuk, Katarzyna Sztybor, Kamila Treude, Tina Sommer, Stefan Rasmussen, Tine L |
author_facet |
Melaniuk, Katarzyna Sztybor, Kamila Treude, Tina Sommer, Stefan Rasmussen, Tine L |
author_sort |
Melaniuk, Katarzyna |
title |
Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N |
title_short |
Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N |
title_full |
Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N |
title_fullStr |
Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° N |
title_sort |
influence of methane seepage on isotopic signatures in living deep-sea benthic foraminifera, 79° n |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ch2w82q |
op_coverage |
1169 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Foraminifera* Fram Strait Global warming |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Foraminifera* Fram Strait Global warming |
op_source |
Scientific Reports, vol 12, iss 1 |
op_relation |
qt5ch2w82q https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ch2w82q |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1782331042808463360 |