A Snapshot of Ancient Microbial Life: Microorganisms and Organic Compounds in Primary Fluid Inclusions in Bedded Halite, Neoproterozoic Browne Formation of Central Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara I Schreder-Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Primary Fluid ◽  
Central Australia

scholarly journals Ingredients for microbial life preserved in 3.5 billion-year-old fluid inclusions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Mißbach ◽  
Jan-Peter Duda ◽  
Alfons M. van den Kerkhof ◽  
Volker Lüders ◽  
Andreas Pack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acetic Acid ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Small Organic Molecules ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Primary Fluid ◽  
Emergence Of Life ◽  
Pilbara Craton

AbstractIt is widely hypothesised that primeval life utilised small organic molecules as sources of carbon and energy. However, the presence of such primordial ingredients in early Earth habitats has not yet been demonstrated. Here we report the existence of indigenous organic molecules and gases in primary fluid inclusions in c. 3.5-billion-year-old barites (Dresser Formation, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia). The compounds identified (e.g., H2S, COS, CS2, CH4, acetic acid, organic (poly-)sulfanes, thiols) may have formed important substrates for purported ancestral sulfur and methanogenic metabolisms. They also include stable building blocks of methyl thioacetate (methanethiol, acetic acid) – a putative key agent in primordial energy metabolism and thus the emergence of life. Delivered by hydrothermal fluids, some of these compounds may have fuelled microbial communities associated with the barite deposits. Our findings demonstrate that early Archaean hydrothermal fluids contained essential primordial ingredients that provided fertile substrates for earliest life on our planet.

scholarly journals The Temperature of Halite Crystallization in the Badenian Saline Basins, in the Context of Paleoclimate Reconstruction of the Carpathian Area

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 831
Author(s):  
Anatoliy R. Galamay ◽  
Krzysztof Bukowski ◽  
Igor M. Zinczuk ◽  
Fanwei Meng
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Distribution ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Single Phase ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Paleoclimate Reconstruction ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Carpathian Region ◽  
Primary Fluid

Currently, fluid inclusions in halite have been frequently studied for the purpose of paleoclimate reconstruction. For example, to determine the air temperature in the Middle Miocene (Badenian), we examine single-phase primary fluid inclusions of the bottom halites (chevron and full-faceted) and near-surface (cumulate) halites collected from the salt-bearing deposits of the Carpathian region. Our analyses showed that the temperatures of near-bottom brines varied in ranges from 19.5 to 22.0 °C and 24.0 to 26.0 °C, while the temperatures of the surface brines ranged from 34.0 to 36.0 °C. Based on these data, such as an earlier study of lithology and sedimentary structures of the Badenian rock salts, the crystallization of bottom halite developed in the basin from concentrated and cooled near-surface brines of about 30 m depth. Our results comply with the data on the temperature distribution in the modern Dead Sea.

Oxygen fugacity during tin ore deposition from primary fluid inclusions in cassiterite

2021 ◽  
pp. 104451
Author(s):  
Christian Schmidt ◽  
Matthias Gottschalk ◽  
Rongqing Zhang ◽  
Jianjun Lu
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Fugacity ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Primary Fluid ◽  
Ore Deposition

Microanalysis of primary fluid inclusions in halite: constraints for an evaporitic sedimentation modeling. Application to the Mulhouse Basin (France)

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1139-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Canals ◽  
B. Carpenter ◽  
A.Y. Huc ◽  
N. Guilhaumou ◽  
M.H. Ramsey
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Primary Fluid

scholarly journals The Ultramicrochemical Analyses (UMCA) of Fluid Inclusions in Halite and Experimental Research to Improve the Accuracy of Measurement

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatoliy R. Galamay ◽  
Krzysztof Bukowski ◽  
Daria V. Sydor ◽  
Fanwei Meng
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Analytical Error ◽  
Genetic Types ◽  
Primary Fluid ◽  
Accuracy Of Measurement ◽  
Distinguishing Features ◽  
Geological Period

Fluid inclusions in halite are widely used in research to determine the conditions of sedimentation in salt basins and reconstruct the chemical composition of seawater during a specific geological period. However, previous preliminary studies of the genetic types of inclusions, considered in the present research project, have not received due attention. Consequently, we decided to take into account the main distinguishing features of fluid inclusions in halite, belonging to various genetic types. The ultramicrochemical analysis (UMCA) method is one of the several methods that are used for the quantitative determination of the chemical composition of the primary fluid inclusions in halite. We have upgraded that technique, and that allowed us to reduce the analytical error rates of each component determination. The error rates were calculated in the study of Ca-rich and SO4-rich types of natural sedimentary brines.

Volatile organic compounds in barite-hosted fluid inclusions from the 3.5 Ga old Dresser Formation, Western Australia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Thiel ◽  
Jan-Peter Duda ◽  
Alfons M. van den Kerkhof ◽  
Joachim Reitner ◽  
Helge Mißbach
Keyword(s):  
Volatile Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Carbon Fixation ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Inorganic Compounds ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Artefact Formation

<p>The c. 3.5 Ga Dresser Formation of the East Pilbara Craton (Western Australia) contains large amounts of blackish barite. These rocks produce an intense sulfidic odor when crushed, resulting from abundant primary fluid inclusions. In part, the black barites are interbedded with sulfidic stromatolites. Using Raman spectroscopy, microthermometry, and two different online GC–MS approaches, we characterized in detail the chemical composition of the barite-hosted fluid inclusions. Our GC–MS techniques were based on (i) thermodecrepitation at 150-250°C and (ii) solid phase microextraction (SPME)–GC–MS at reduced temperature (50°C), thereby minimizing external contamination and artefact formation. Major fluid inclusion classes yielded mainly H<sub>2</sub>O, CO<sub>2</sub>, and H<sub>2</sub>S in varying abundance, along with minor amounts of COS and  CS<sub>2</sub>, N<sub>2</sub>, and CH<sub>4</sub> (< 1%). Notably, we also detected a wide range of volatile organic compounds, including short–chain ketones and aldehydes, thiophenes, and various organic (poly)sulfides. Some of these compounds (CH<sub>3</sub>SH, acetic acid) have previously been invoked as initials agents for carbon fixation under primordial conditions, but up to now their presence had not been observed in Precambrian materials. Based on our findings, we hypothesize that hydrothermal seepage of organic and inorganic compounds during Dresser times provided both, catabolic and anabolic substrates for early microbial metabolisms.</p>

Organic compounds trapped in aqueous fluid inclusions

1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 195-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim E. Ruble ◽  
Simon C. George ◽  
Mark Lisk ◽  
Robinson A. Quezada
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Aqueous Fluid

scholarly journals Pathways for abiotic organic synthesis at submarine hydrothermal fields

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (25) ◽  
pp. 7668-7672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill M. McDermott ◽  
Jeffrey S. Seewald ◽  
Christopher R. German ◽  
Sean P. Sylva
Keyword(s):  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Synthesis ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Hot Springs ◽  
Hydrothermal Systems ◽  
Deep Biosphere ◽  
Shallow Subsurface ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Abiotic Organic Synthesis ◽  
Life On Earth

Arguments for an abiotic origin of low-molecular weight organic compounds in deep-sea hot springs are compelling owing to implications for the sustenance of deep biosphere microbial communities and their potential role in the origin of life. Theory predicts that warm H2-rich fluids, like those emanating from serpentinizing hydrothermal systems, create a favorable thermodynamic drive for the abiotic generation of organic compounds from inorganic precursors. Here, we constrain two distinct reaction pathways for abiotic organic synthesis in the natural environment at the Von Damm hydrothermal field and delineate spatially where inorganic carbon is converted into bioavailable reduced carbon. We reveal that carbon transformation reactions in a single system can progress over hours, days, and up to thousands of years. Previous studies have suggested that CH4 and higher hydrocarbons in ultramafic hydrothermal systems were dependent on H2 generation during active serpentinization. Rather, our results indicate that CH4 found in vent fluids is formed in H2-rich fluid inclusions, and higher n-alkanes may likely be derived from the same source. This finding implies that, in contrast with current paradigms, these compounds may form independently of actively circulating serpentinizing fluids in ultramafic-influenced systems. Conversely, widespread production of formate by ΣCO2 reduction at Von Damm occurs rapidly during shallow subsurface mixing of the same fluids, which may support anaerobic methanogenesis. Our finding of abiogenic formate in deep-sea hot springs has significant implications for microbial life strategies in the present-day deep biosphere as well as early life on Earth and beyond.

scholarly journals Ore Geology, Fluid Inclusions, and (H-O-S-Pb) Isotope Geochemistry of the Sediment-Hosted Antimony Mineralization, Lyhamyar Sb Deposit, Southern Shan Plateau, Eastern Myanmar: Implications for Ore Genesis

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 296
Author(s):  
Aung Min Oo ◽  
Lv Xinbiao ◽  
Khin Zaw ◽  
Than Htay ◽  
Sun Binke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Meteoric Water ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Pb Isotope ◽  
Primary Fluid ◽  
Magmatic Fluids ◽  
Homogenization Temperatures ◽  
Deposit Model ◽  
Fluid Homogenization ◽  
Stage Stage

The Lyhamyar deposit is a large Sb deposit in the Southern Shan Plateau, Eastern Myanmar. The deposit is located in the Early Silurian Linwe Formation, occurring as syntectonic quartz-stibnite veins. The ore body forms an irregular staircase shape, probably related to steep faulting. Based on the mineral assemblages and cross-cutting relationships, the deposit shows two mineralization stages: (1) the pre-ore sedimentary and diagenetic stage, and (2) the main-ore hydrothermal ore-forming stage (including stages I, II, and III), i.e., (i) early-ore stage (stage I) Quartz-Stibnite, (ii) late-ore stage (stage II) Quartz-calcite-Stibnite ± Pyrite, and (iii) post-ore stage (stage III) carbonate. The ore-forming fluid homogenization temperatures from the study of primary fluid inclusions in quartz and calcite indicate that the ore-forming fluid was of a low temperature (143.8–260.4 °C) and moderate to high-salinity (2.9–20.9 wt. % NaCl equivalent). Hydrogen and oxygen isotopes suggest that the ore-forming fluids of the Lyhamyar deposit were derived from circulating meteoric water mixed with magmatic fluids that underwent isotopic exchange with the surrounding rocks. Sulfur in Lyhamyar was dominated by thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) with dominant magmatic source sulfur. The lead isotope compositions of the stibnite indicate that the lead from the ore-forming metals was from the upper crustal lead reservoir and orogenic lead reservoir. On the basis of the integrated geological setting, ore geology, fluid inclusions, (H-O-S-Pb) isotope data, and previous literature, we propose a new ore-deposit model for the Lyhamyar Sb deposit: It was involved in an early deposition of pyrite in sedimentary and diagenetic stages and later Sb mineralization by mixing of circulating meteoric water with ascending magmatic fluids during the hydrothermal mineralization stage.

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