Changes in carbon cycling under lowered sulfate conditions in hypersaline microbial mats as ascertained by stable carbon isotopes

摘要

The salinity and sulfate concentrations of microbial mats collected from hypersaline salterns were mainipulated to examine the effects of low sulfate concentrations and lowered salinity on carbon metabolism. As sulfate was slowly removed from the mats, methane production and flux increased, with highest fluxes and concentration in mats at lowered salinity (35 ppt) and low sulfate concentrations. The δ~(13)C values of bulk particulate organic carbon (POC) ranged from about -10 to -12 per thousand, similar to what had been observed previously for these cyanobacterial mats. In mats with higher sulfate concentrations, pore water profiles of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) δ~(13)C values decreased with depth. However, in the mats with lowered sulfate, the DIC δ~(13)C values increased substantially, from about -1 per thousand in the overlying water to +12 per thousand by 20 mm depth. Although the increase in DIC δ~(13)C values is consistent with biogenic methanogenesis, the measured methane concentrations in these mats were not great enough to be the sole cause of the increase. These positive isotopic values, as well as the higher acetate concentrations observed in the low-sulfate mats, are also consistent with the occurrence of acetogenesis.