Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida

© 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. Iron redox cycling in metal-rich, hypersaline, anoxic brines plays a central role in the biogeochemical evolution of life on Earth, and similar brines with the potential to harbor life are thought to exist elsewhere in the solar system. To inves...

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Main Authors: Proemse, B., Murray, A., Schallenberg, C., McKiernan, B., Glazer, B., Young, S., Ostrom, N., Bowie, A., Wieser, M., Kenig, F., Doran, P., Edwards, Peter
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer Netherlands 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58166
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author Proemse, B.
Murray, A.
Schallenberg, C.
McKiernan, B.
Glazer, B.
Young, S.
Ostrom, N.
Bowie, A.
Wieser, M.
Kenig, F.
Doran, P.
Edwards, Peter
author_facet Proemse, B.
Murray, A.
Schallenberg, C.
McKiernan, B.
Glazer, B.
Young, S.
Ostrom, N.
Bowie, A.
Wieser, M.
Kenig, F.
Doran, P.
Edwards, Peter
author_sort Proemse, B.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. Iron redox cycling in metal-rich, hypersaline, anoxic brines plays a central role in the biogeochemical evolution of life on Earth, and similar brines with the potential to harbor life are thought to exist elsewhere in the solar system. To investigate iron biogeochemical cycling in a terrestrial analog we determined the iron redox chemistry and isotopic signatures in the cryoencapsulated liquid brines found in frozen Lake Vida, East Antarctica. We used both in situ voltammetry and the spectrophotometric ferrozine method to determine iron speciation in Lake Vida brine (LVBr). Our results show that iron speciation in the anoxic LVBr was, unexpectedly, not free Fe(II). Iron isotope analysis revealed highly depleted values of -2.5‰ for the ferric iron of LVBr th at are similar to iron isotopic signatures of Fe(II) produced by dissimilatory iron reduction. The presence of Fe(III) in LVBr therefore indicates dynamic iron redox cycling beyond iron reduction. Furthermore, extremely low d 18 O–SO 4 2- values (-9.7‰) support microbial iron-sulfur cycling reactions. In combination with evidence for chemodenitrification resulting in iron oxidation, we conclude that coupled abiotic and biotic redox reactions are driving the iron cycle in Lake Vida brine. Our findings challenge the current state of knowledge of anoxic brine chemistry and may serve as an analogue for icy brines found in the outer reaches of the solar system.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-581662017-11-24T05:46:55Z Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida Proemse, B. Murray, A. Schallenberg, C. McKiernan, B. Glazer, B. Young, S. Ostrom, N. Bowie, A. Wieser, M. Kenig, F. Doran, P. Edwards, Peter © 2017, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. Iron redox cycling in metal-rich, hypersaline, anoxic brines plays a central role in the biogeochemical evolution of life on Earth, and similar brines with the potential to harbor life are thought to exist elsewhere in the solar system. To investigate iron biogeochemical cycling in a terrestrial analog we determined the iron redox chemistry and isotopic signatures in the cryoencapsulated liquid brines found in frozen Lake Vida, East Antarctica. We used both in situ voltammetry and the spectrophotometric ferrozine method to determine iron speciation in Lake Vida brine (LVBr). Our results show that iron speciation in the anoxic LVBr was, unexpectedly, not free Fe(II). Iron isotope analysis revealed highly depleted values of -2.5‰ for the ferric iron of LVBr th at are similar to iron isotopic signatures of Fe(II) produced by dissimilatory iron reduction. The presence of Fe(III) in LVBr therefore indicates dynamic iron redox cycling beyond iron reduction. Furthermore, extremely low d 18 O–SO 4 2- values (-9.7‰) support microbial iron-sulfur cycling reactions. In combination with evidence for chemodenitrification resulting in iron oxidation, we conclude that coupled abiotic and biotic redox reactions are driving the iron cycle in Lake Vida brine. Our findings challenge the current state of knowledge of anoxic brine chemistry and may serve as an analogue for icy brines found in the outer reaches of the solar system. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58166 10.1007/s10533-017-0346-5 Springer Netherlands restricted
spellingShingle Proemse, B.
Murray, A.
Schallenberg, C.
McKiernan, B.
Glazer, B.
Young, S.
Ostrom, N.
Bowie, A.
Wieser, M.
Kenig, F.
Doran, P.
Edwards, Peter
Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida
title Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida
title_full Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida
title_fullStr Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida
title_full_unstemmed Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida
title_short Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida
title_sort iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of antarctic lake vida
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/58166