Control on rate and pathway of anaerobic organic carbon degradation in the seabed.

ABSTRACT: The degradation of organic matter in the anoxic seabed proceeds through a complex microbial network in which the terminal steps are dominated by oxidation with sulfate or conversion into methane and CO₂ The controls on pathway and rate of the degradation process in different geochemical zones remain elusive. Radiotracer techniques were used to perform measurements of sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, and acetate oxidation with unprecedented sensitivity throughout Holocene sediment columns from the Baltic Sea. We found that degradation rates transition continuously from the sulfate to the methane zone, thereby demonstrating that terminal steps do not exert feedback control on upstream hydrolytic and fermentative processes, as previously suspected. Acetate was a key intermediate

SUBMITTER: Beulig F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5777060 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature