Microbiological characterization of post-eruption "snowblower" vents at Axial Seamount, Juan de Fuca Ridge.

ABSTRACT: Microbial processes within the subseafloor can be examined during the ephemeral and uncommonly observed phenomena known as snowblower venting. Snowblowers are characterized by the large quantity of white floc that is expelled from the seafloor following mid-ocean ridge eruptions. During these eruptions, rapidly cooling lava entrains seawater and hydrothermal fluids enriched in geochemical reactants, creating a natural bioreactor that supports a subseafloor microbial "bloom." Previous studies hypothesized that the eruption-associated floc was made by sulfide-oxidizing bacteria; however, the microbes involved were never identified. Here we present the first molecular analysis combined with microscopy of microbial communities in snowblower vents from samples collected shortly after the 2011 e

SUBMITTER: Meyer JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3683637 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature