Geology and Thermal History of Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

10.3133/b1444 ◽  
1978 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annastacia C. Bennett ◽  
Senthil K. Murugapiran ◽  
Eric D. Kees ◽  
Trinity L. Hamilton

ABSTRACTAlkaline hot springs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) provide a framework to study the relationship between photoautotrophs and temperature. Previous work has focused on cyanobacteria (oxygenic phototrophs), but anoxygenic phototrophs are critical parts of the evolutionary history of life on Earth and and are abundant across temperature gradients in alkaline hot springs. However, many questions remain regarding the ecophysiology of anoxygenic photosynthesis due to the taxonomic and metabolic diversity of these taxa. Here, we examined the distribution of genes involved in phototrophy and carbon and nitrogen fixation in eight alkaline (pH 7.3-9.4) hot spring sites approaching the upper temperature limit of photosynthesis (~72°C) in YNP using metagenome sequencing. Genes associated with cyanobacteria are abundant throughout our data and more diverse at temperatures > 63°C, genes for autotrophic Chloroflexi are more abundant in sites > 63°C and genes associated with phototrophic Chloroflexi are abundant throughout. Additionally, we recovered deep branching nitrogen fixation genes from our metagenomes, which could inform the evolutionary history of nitrogen fixation. Lastly, we recovered 25 metagenome assembled genomes of Chloroflexi. We found distinct differences in carbon fixation genes in Roseiflexus and Chloroflexus bins, in addition to several novel Chloroflexi bins. Our results highlight the physiological diversity and evolutionary history of the understudied, anoxygenic autotrophic Chloroflex. Furthermore, we provide evidence that genes involved in nitrogen fixation in Chloroflexi is more widespread than previously assumed.IMPORTANCEPhotosynthetic bacteria in hot springs are of great importance to both microbial evolution and ecology because they are responsible for the rise of oxygen and are critical to nutrient cycling. While a large body of work has focused on the oxygenic photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, many questions remain regarding the metabolic potential of anoxygenic phototrophs but are further compounded by their metabolic and taxonomic diversity. Here, we have recovered several novel metagenome bins and quantified the distribution of key genes involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism in both oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs. Together, our results add to the body of work focusing on photosynthetic bacteria in hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva De Boever ◽  
David Jaramillo‐Vogel ◽  
Anne‐Sophie Bouvier ◽  
Norbert Frank ◽  
Andrea Schröder‐Ritzrau ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (20) ◽  
pp. 6669-6677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S. Boyd ◽  
Robert A. Jackson ◽  
Gem Encarnacion ◽  
James A. Zahn ◽  
Trevor Beard ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Elemental sulfur (S0) is associated with many geochemically diverse hot springs, yet little is known about the phylogeny, physiology, and ecology of the organisms involved in its cycling. Here we report the isolation, characterization, and ecology of two novel, S0-reducing Crenarchaea from an acid geothermal spring referred to as Dragon Spring. Isolate 18U65 grows optimally at 70 to 72°C and at pH 2.5 to 3.0, while isolate 18D70 grows optimally at 81°C and pH 3.0. Both isolates are chemoorganotrophs, dependent on complex peptide-containing carbon sources, S0, and anaerobic conditions for respiration-dependent growth. Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) containing four to six cyclopentyl rings were present in the lipid fraction of isolates 18U65 and 18D70. Physiological characterization suggests that the isolates are adapted to the physicochemical conditions of Dragon Spring and can utilize the natural organic matter in the spring as a carbon and energy source. Quantitative PCR analysis of 16S rRNA genes associated with the S0 flocs recovered from several acid geothermal springs using isolate-specific primers indicates that these two populations together represent 17 to 37% of the floc-associated DNA. The physiological characteristics of isolates 18U65 and 18D70 are consistent with their potential widespread distribution and putative role in the cycling of sulfur in acid geothermal springs throughout the Yellowstone National Park geothermal complex. Based on phenotypic and genetic characterization, the designations Caldisphaera draconis sp. nov. and Acidilobus sulfurireducens sp. nov. are proposed for isolates 18U65 and 18D70, respectively.


2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1611-1642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R Lowe ◽  
Deena Braunstein

Slightly alkaline hot springs and geysers in Yellowstone National Park exhibit distinctive assemblages of high-temperature (>73 °C) siliceous sinter reflecting local hydrodynamic conditions. The main depositional zones include subaqueous pool and channel bottoms and intermittently wetted subaerial splash, surge, and overflow areas. Subaqueous deposits include particulate siliceous sediment and dendritic and microbial silica framework. Silica framework forms thin, porous, microbe-rich films coating subaqueous surfaces. Spicules with intervening narrow crevices dominate in splash zones. Surge and overflow deposits include pool and channel rims, columns, and knobs. In thin section, subaerial sinter is composed of (i) dark brown, nearly opaque laminated sinter deposited on surfaces that evaporate to dryness; (ii) clear translucent silica deposited subaqueously through precipitation driven by supersaturation; (iii) heterogeneous silica representing silica-encrusted microbial filaments and detritus; and (iv) sinter debris. Brownish laminations form the framework of most sinter deposited in surge and overflow zones. Pits and cavities are common architectural features of subaerial sinter and show concave-upward pseudo-cross-laminations and micro-unconformities developed through migration. Marked birefringence of silica deposited on surfaces that evaporate to dryness is probably a strain effect. Repeated wetting and evaporation, often to dryness, and capillary effects control the deposition, morphology, and microstructure of most high-temperature sinter outside of the fully subaqueous zone. Microbial filaments are abundant on and within high-temperature sinter but do not provide the main controls on morphology or structuring except in biofilms developed on subaqueous surfaces. Millimetre-scale lamination cyclicity in much high-temperature sinter represents annual layering and regular seasonal fluctuations in silica sedimentation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
W. Andrew Marcus ◽  
James E. Meacham ◽  
Justin T. Menke ◽  
Aleathea Y. Steingisser ◽  
Ann E. Rodman

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The Second Edition of the Atlas of Yellowstone will celebrate the 150-year history of the world’s first national park – and reflect on the future of Yellowstone and its evolving place in the world. Like the first Atlas of Yellowstone published in 2012, the Second Edition will provide a comprehensive view of the human and natural setting of Yellowstone National Park. Also like the First Edition, the new edition will portray variations over space and time, explore human-nature interactions throughout the region, document connections of Yellowstone to the rest of the world, and &amp;ndash; ultimately &amp;ndash; guide the reader to a deeper appreciation of Yellowstone.</p><p>Beyond that, the new edition will provide much expanded coverage of the park’s history. Readers will better understand the many different ways in which the creation of Yellowstone National Park has preserved and altered the landscapes and ecology of Yellowstone and conservation thought and practice, both locally and around the world.</p><p>The new atlas will also reflect advances in scientific data collection, knowledge, and insight gained since publication of the first edition. New topic pages will address key management issues ranging from increased visitor impact to wildlife disease to light pollution. In addition, many of the 850 existing graphics will be updated, reimagined, or replaced by new graphics that capture the remarkable wealth of data that has become available since the First Edition. Whether it be tracking of individual wolves, ecosystem imagery from space, or detailed visitor surveys &amp;ndash; new data provide insights that could not be graphically displayed before.</p><p>The Second Edition celebrates 150 years of America’s best idea and what that has meant to the world. The significance of Yellowstone National Park to conservation, scholarship, and the human experience is enormous, and deserves a volume that captures that importance.</p>


2003 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 276-277
Author(s):  
Robert K. Fleck

In this well written book, Mark Barringer provides an interesting and detailed history of commercial enterprises in Yellowstone National Park. The book has great value to scholars concerned with the management of public lands, the roles that interest groups (park employees, concessioners, tourists, and environmentalists) have played in the history of Yellowstone, and the difficulties in designing contracts for the private provision of goods and services on public lands.


Astrobiology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1091-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingling Wu ◽  
Rebecca Poulson Brucker ◽  
Brian L. Beard ◽  
Eric E. Roden ◽  
Clark M. Johnson

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