Diversity of microbial habitats and biogeochemical processes at Loihi seamount (original) (raw)

Abstract

Seafloor hydrothermal activity at mid-ocean ridges (MOR) is one of the fundamental processes controlling the exchange of heat and chemical species between seawater and ocean rocks and there is increasing evidence that off-axis vent fields may significantly affect biogeochemical cycles and oceanic elemental budgets. Active hydrothermal venting associated with volcanic seamounts has been well documented, in particular at Loihi Seamount, Hawaii and Vailulu`u Seamount, Samoa, but the degree to which diffuse venting and subsurface processes occur at hot-spot volcanoes is not known. Loihi Seamount offers at least three distinct microbial habitats that support a biogeochemically-significant class of microorganisms – iron oxidizing bacteria. These habitats include sites of warm, iron-rich hydrothermal vents at the volcano’s summit (1,000m depth), sites of cold, ultra-diffuse iron-rich hydrothermal fluids at 5,000m, and bare basalts with no localized active hydrothermal fluids. Here, we prov...

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