Temperature limits to deep subseafloor life in the Nankai Trough subduction zone

doi:10.1126/science.abd7934

. 2020 Dec 4;370(6521):1230-1234.

doi: 10.1126/science.abd7934.

Temperature limits to deep subseafloor life in the Nankai Trough subduction zone

Verena B Heuer^#¹, Fumio Inagaki^#^{2

3}, Yuki Morono^#³, Yusuke Kubo⁴, Arthur J Spivack⁵, Bernhard Viehweger¹, Tina Treude⁶, Felix Beulig⁷, Florence Schubotz¹, Satoshi Tonai⁸, Stephen A Bowden⁹, Margaret Cramm¹⁰, Susann Henkel¹¹, Takehiro Hirose³, Kira Homola⁵, Tatsuhiko Hoshino³, Akira Ijiri³, Hiroyuki Imachi¹², Nana Kamiya¹³, Masanori Kaneko¹⁴, Lorenzo Lagostina¹⁵, Hayley Manners¹⁶, Harry-Luke McClelland¹⁷, Kyle Metcalfe¹⁸, Natsumi Okutsu¹⁹, Donald Pan²⁰, Maija J Raudsepp²¹, Justine Sauvage⁵, Man-Yin Tsang²², David T Wang²³, Emily Whitaker²⁴, Yuzuru Yamamoto²⁵, Kiho Yang²⁶, Lena Maeda⁴, Rishi R Adhikari¹, Clemens Glombitza²⁷, Yohei Hamada³, Jens Kallmeyer²⁸, Jenny Wendt¹, Lars Wörmer¹, Yasuhiro Yamada², Masataka Kinoshita²⁹, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
² Research and Development Center for Ocean Drilling Science, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokohama, Japan.
³ Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, JAMSTEC, Kochi, Japan.
⁴ Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDEX), JAMSTEC, Yokohama, Japan.
⁵ Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, USA.
⁶ Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁷ Center for Geomicrobiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁸ Faculty of Science and Technology, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan.
⁹ Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
¹¹ Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
¹² Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avantgarde Research, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Japan.
¹³ Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Geomicrobiology Research Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
¹⁶ School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK.
¹⁷ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
¹⁸ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁰ Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Japan.
²¹ School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia.
²² Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
²³ Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁴ Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
²⁵ Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Japan.
²⁶ Department of Earth System Sciences, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
²⁷ Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
²⁸ GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany.
²⁹ Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁰ Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany. khinrichs@uni-bremen.de.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33273103
DOI: 10.1126/science.abd7934

Free article

Temperature limits to deep subseafloor life in the Nankai Trough subduction zone

Verena B Heuer et al. Science. 2020.

Free article

. 2020 Dec 4;370(6521):1230-1234.

doi: 10.1126/science.abd7934.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
² Research and Development Center for Ocean Drilling Science, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokohama, Japan.
³ Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, JAMSTEC, Kochi, Japan.
⁴ Center for Deep Earth Exploration (CDEX), JAMSTEC, Yokohama, Japan.
⁵ Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI, USA.
⁶ Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁷ Center for Geomicrobiology, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁸ Faculty of Science and Technology, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan.
⁹ Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
¹¹ Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.
¹² Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avantgarde Research, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Japan.
¹³ Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Geomicrobiology Research Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
¹⁶ School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK.
¹⁷ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
¹⁸ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁰ Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Japan.
²¹ School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia.
²² Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
²³ Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁴ Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
²⁵ Department of Mathematical Science and Advanced Technology, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Japan.
²⁶ Department of Earth System Sciences, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
²⁷ Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
²⁸ GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany.
²⁹ Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁰ Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany. khinrichs@uni-bremen.de.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 33273103
DOI: 10.1126/science.abd7934

Abstract

Microorganisms in marine subsurface sediments substantially contribute to global biomass. Sediments warmer than 40°C account for roughly half the marine sediment volume, but the processes mediated by microbial populations in these hard-to-access environments are poorly understood. We investigated microbial life in up to 1.2-kilometer-deep and up to 120°C hot sediments in the Nankai Trough subduction zone. Above 45°C, concentrations of vegetative cells drop two orders of magnitude and endospores become more than 6000 times more abundant than vegetative cells. Methane is biologically produced and oxidized until sediments reach 80° to 85°C. In 100° to 120°C sediments, isotopic evidence and increased cell concentrations demonstrate the activity of acetate-degrading hyperthermophiles. Above 45°C, populated zones alternate with zones up to 192 meters thick where microbes were undetectable.

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Temperature limits to deep subseafloor life in the Nankai Trough subduction zone

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Temperature limits to deep subseafloor life in the Nankai Trough subduction zone

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