Geochemical and Microbiological Evidence for Microbial Methane Production in Deep Aquifers of the Cretaceous Accretionary Prism.

ABSTRACT: Accretionary prisms are thick layers of sedimentary material piled up at convergent plate boundaries. Large amounts of anaerobic groundwater and methane (CH₄) are contained in the deep aquifers associated with accretionary prisms. In order to identify microbial activity and CH₄ production processes in the deep aquifers associated with the Cretaceous accretionary prism in Okinawa Island, Japan, we performed geochemical and microbiological studies using anaerobic groundwater and natural gas (mainly CH₄) samples collected through four deep wells. Chemical and stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope analyses of groundwater samples indicated that the groundwater samples obtained from each site originated from ancient seawater and a mixture of rainwater and seawater,

SUBMITTER: Matsushita M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6031385 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature