Evidence for microbial activity in British and Irish Ordovician pillow lavas

John Parnell; Malcolm Hole; Adrian J. Boyce

doi:10.1002/gj.2562

Evidence for microbial activity in British and Irish Ordovician pillow lavas

John Parnell^*, Malcolm Hole, Adrian J. Boyce

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Pyrite is consistently found in modern seafloor vesicular basalts and has a sulphur isotopic composition consistent with microbial activity. We present S isotope data from pyrite in Ordovician pillow lavas at localities across the British Isles, which yield a range of δ³⁴S compositions consistent with two components of sulphur: groundmass pyrite (~0±4‰) and ³²S-enriched pyrite in the vesicles (-8‰ to -27‰). The latter are recorded from vesicular lavas in four different terranes, representing different settings at the margins of the Iapetus Ocean. Whereas a component of magmatic sulphate is recognized in the groundmass values, the isotopically light data in the vesicles are consistent with microbial reduction of seawater sulphate in sub-seafloor lavas. This is consistent with modern examples and indicates considerable longevity for this sub-seafloor microbial habitat.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	497-508
Number of pages	12
Journal	Geological Journal
Volume	50
Issue number	4
Early online date	15 May 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.2562
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2015

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to A. Light, R. Parr, A. Williamson and S. Foster for help with sample collection and processing and the Garda of Co. Leitrim for their understanding. A. McDonald, A. Sandison and C. Taylor provided skilled technical support. J. Ponicka drafted Figure 6. AJB is funded by NERC support of the Isotope Community Support Facility at SUERC. NERC supported the project through facility grant IP-1235-0511.

Keywords

Basalt
Deep biosphere
Ireland
Ordovician
Pillow lava
Scotland
Wales

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abstract = "Pyrite is consistently found in modern seafloor vesicular basalts and has a sulphur isotopic composition consistent with microbial activity. We present S isotope data from pyrite in Ordovician pillow lavas at localities across the British Isles, which yield a range of δ34S compositions consistent with two components of sulphur: groundmass pyrite (~0±4‰) and 32S-enriched pyrite in the vesicles (-8‰ to -27‰). The latter are recorded from vesicular lavas in four different terranes, representing different settings at the margins of the Iapetus Ocean. Whereas a component of magmatic sulphate is recognized in the groundmass values, the isotopically light data in the vesicles are consistent with microbial reduction of seawater sulphate in sub-seafloor lavas. This is consistent with modern examples and indicates considerable longevity for this sub-seafloor microbial habitat.",

keywords = "Basalt, Deep biosphere, Ireland, Ordovician, Pillow lava, Scotland, Wales",

author = "John Parnell and Malcolm Hole and Boyce, {Adrian J.}",

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N2 - Pyrite is consistently found in modern seafloor vesicular basalts and has a sulphur isotopic composition consistent with microbial activity. We present S isotope data from pyrite in Ordovician pillow lavas at localities across the British Isles, which yield a range of δ34S compositions consistent with two components of sulphur: groundmass pyrite (~0±4‰) and 32S-enriched pyrite in the vesicles (-8‰ to -27‰). The latter are recorded from vesicular lavas in four different terranes, representing different settings at the margins of the Iapetus Ocean. Whereas a component of magmatic sulphate is recognized in the groundmass values, the isotopically light data in the vesicles are consistent with microbial reduction of seawater sulphate in sub-seafloor lavas. This is consistent with modern examples and indicates considerable longevity for this sub-seafloor microbial habitat.

AB - Pyrite is consistently found in modern seafloor vesicular basalts and has a sulphur isotopic composition consistent with microbial activity. We present S isotope data from pyrite in Ordovician pillow lavas at localities across the British Isles, which yield a range of δ34S compositions consistent with two components of sulphur: groundmass pyrite (~0±4‰) and 32S-enriched pyrite in the vesicles (-8‰ to -27‰). The latter are recorded from vesicular lavas in four different terranes, representing different settings at the margins of the Iapetus Ocean. Whereas a component of magmatic sulphate is recognized in the groundmass values, the isotopically light data in the vesicles are consistent with microbial reduction of seawater sulphate in sub-seafloor lavas. This is consistent with modern examples and indicates considerable longevity for this sub-seafloor microbial habitat.

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KW - Wales

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Evidence for microbial activity in British and Irish Ordovician pillow lavas

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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