Lithogenic hydrogen supports microbial primary production in subglacial and proglacial environments.

ABSTRACT: Life in environments devoid of photosynthesis, such as on early Earth or in contemporary dark subsurface ecosystems, is supported by chemical energy. How, when, and where chemical nutrients released from the geosphere fuel chemosynthetic biospheres is fundamental to understanding the distribution and diversity of life, both today and in the geologic past. Hydrogen (H₂) is a potent reductant that can be generated when water interacts with reactive components of mineral surfaces such as silicate radicals and ferrous iron. Such reactive mineral surfaces are continually generated by physical comminution of bedrock by glaciers. Here, we show that dissolved H₂ concentrations in meltwaters from an iron and silicate mineral-rich basaltic glacial catchment were an order of mag

SUBMITTER: Dunham EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7812807 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature