Alteration of oceanic volcanic glass: textural evidence of microbial activity

The subsurface biosphere may constitute as much as 50 percent of Earth's biomass. Direct and indirect evidence suggests that an extensive biosphere exists in the rocks below the sea floor. This survey of basalts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans supports the hypothesis that bacteria have colonized much of the upper oceanic crust, which has a volume estimated at 10(18) cubic meters. Although this is the largest habitat on Earth, its low abundance of bacteria constitutes much less than 1 percent of Earth's biomass.

[1]  J. Crovisier,et al.  Dissolution of basaltic glass in seawater: Mechanism and rate , 1987 .

[2]  Todd O. Stevens,et al.  Lithoautotrophic Microbial Ecosystems in Deep Basalt Aquifers , 1995, Science.

[3]  H. Furnes,et al.  The importance of microbiological activity in the alteration of natural basaltic glass , 1992 .

[4]  R. Huber,et al.  Hyperthermophilic archaebacteria within the crater and open-sea plume of erupting Macdonald Seamount , 1990, Nature.

[5]  Jizhong Zhou,et al.  Thermophilic Fe(III)-Reducing Bacteria from the Deep Subsurface: The Evolutionary Implications , 1997 .

[6]  C. Wirsen,et al.  Microbiology and Ecology of Filamentous Sulfur Formation , 1997 .

[7]  H. Furnes,et al.  Microbes play an important role in the alteration of oceanic crust , 1995 .

[8]  Matthew C. Smith,et al.  Volcanic eruption of the mid-ocean ridge along the East Pacific Rise crest at 9°45-52'N: direct submersible observations of seafloor phenomena associated with an eruption event in April, 1991 , 1993 .

[9]  J. Sarrazin,et al.  Microbial‐mineral floc associated with nascent hydrothermal activity on CoAxial Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge , 1995 .

[10]  S. Biggin.  The Rise of the Technocrats , 1995, Science.

[11]  D. Lovley,et al.  Deep subsurface microbial processes , 1995 .

[12]  K. Goodman,et al.  Deep bacterial biosphere in Pacific Ocean sediments , 1994, Nature.

[13]  T. Phelps,et al.  Physiochemical, mineralogical, and isotopic characterization of magnetite-rich iron oxides formed by thermophilic iron-reducing bacteria , 1997 .

[14]  H. Furnes,et al.  Textural and chemical effects of bacterial activity on basaltic glass: an experimental approach , 1995 .