A unique subseafloor microbiosphere in the Mariana Trench driven by episodic sedimentation.

ABSTRACT: Hadal trenches are characterized by enhanced and infrequent high-rate episodic sedimentation events that likely introduce not only labile organic carbon and key nutrients but also new microbes that significantly alter the subseafloor microbiosphere. Currently, the role of high-rate episodic sedimentation in controlling the composition of the hadal subseafloor microbiosphere is unknown. Here, analyses of carbon isotope composition in a ~ 750 cm long sediment core from the Challenger Deep revealed noncontinuous deposition, with anomalous ¹⁴C ages likely caused by seismically driven mass transport and the funneling effect of trench geomorphology. Microbial community composition and diverse enzyme activities in the upper ~ 27 cm differed from those at lower depths, probably due to s

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10902237 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature