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- Title
Hydrogen and dark oxygen drive microbial productivity in diverse groundwater ecosystems.
- Authors
Ruff, S. Emil; Humez, Pauline; de Angelis, Isabella Hrabe; Diao, Muhe; Nightingale, Michael; Cho, Sara; Connors, Liam; Kuloyo, Olukayode O.; Seltzer, Alan; Bowman, Samuel; Wankel, Scott D.; McClain, Cynthia N.; Mayer, Bernhard; Strous, Marc
- Abstract
Around 50% of humankind relies on groundwater as a source of drinking water. Here we investigate the age, geochemistry, and microbiology of 138 groundwater samples from 95 monitoring wells (<250 m depth) located in 14 aquifers in Canada. The geochemistry and microbiology show consistent trends suggesting large-scale aerobic and anaerobic hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling carried out by diverse microbial communities. Older groundwaters, especially in aquifers with organic carbon-rich strata, contain on average more cells (up to 1.4 × 107 mL−1) than younger groundwaters, challenging current estimates of subsurface cell abundances. We observe substantial concentrations of dissolved oxygen (0.52 ± 0.12 mg L−1 [mean ± SE]; n = 57) in older groundwaters that seem to support aerobic metabolisms in subsurface ecosystems at an unprecedented scale. Metagenomics, oxygen isotope analyses and mixing models indicate that dark oxygen is produced in situ via microbial dismutation. We show that ancient groundwaters sustain productive communities and highlight an overlooked oxygen source in present and past subsurface ecosystems of Earth. Microbes in ancient groundwaters can be very diverse and productive. Some microbes seem to produce oxygen in the dark, which others use to consume the greenhouse gas methane. Their metabolisms are relevant for groundwater health and global change.
- Subjects
CANADA; GROUNDWATER; GROUNDWATER monitoring; AEROBIC metabolism; GROUNDWATER microbiology; SULFUR cycle; GROUNDWATER sampling; OXYGEN
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2023, Vol 14, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-023-38523-4