Coupling among Microbial Communities, Biogeochemistry, and Mineralogy across Biogeochemical Facies.

ABSTRACT: Physical properties of sediments are commonly used to define subsurface lithofacies and these same physical properties influence subsurface microbial communities. This suggests an (unexploited) opportunity to use the spatial distribution of facies to predict spatial variation in biogeochemically relevant microbial attributes. Here, we characterize three biogeochemical facies-oxidized, reduced, and transition-within one lithofacies and elucidate relationships among facies features and microbial community biomass, richness, and composition. Consistent with previous observations of biogeochemical hotspots at environmental transition zones, we find elevated biomass within a biogeochemical facies that occurred at the transition between oxidized and reduced biogeochemical facies. Microbial richn

SUBMITTER: Stegen JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4965824 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature