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Ancient and modern geochemical signatures in the 13,500-year sedimentary record of Lake Cadagno

View ORCID ProfileJasmine S. Berg, Mathilde Lepine, Emile Laymand, Xingguo Han, Hendrik Vogel, Marina A. Morlock, Niroshan Gajendra, Adrian Gilli, Stefano Bernasconi, Carsten J. Schubert, Guangyi Su, Mark A. Lever
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.04.463023
Jasmine S. Berg
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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  • For correspondence: jasmine.berg@usys.ethz.ch jasmine.berg@unil.ch
Mathilde Lepine
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Emile Laymand
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Xingguo Han
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Hendrik Vogel
2Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Marina A. Morlock
2Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Niroshan Gajendra
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Adrian Gilli
3Department of Earth Sciences, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Stefano Bernasconi
3Department of Earth Sciences, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Carsten J. Schubert
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
4Surface Waters-Research and Management, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
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Guangyi Su
4Surface Waters-Research and Management, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
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Mark A. Lever
1Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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ABSTRACT

Although lake sediments are globally important organic carbon sinks and therefore important habitats for deep microbial life, the deep lacustrine biosphere has thus far been little studied compared to its marine counterpart. To investigate the impact of the underexplored deep lacustrine biosphere on the sediment geochemical environment and vice versa, we performed a comprehensive microbiological and geochemical characterization of a sedimentary sequence from Lake Cadagno covering its entire environmental history since formation following glacial retreat. We found that both geochemical gradients and microbial community shifts across the ∼13.5 kyr subsurface sedimentary record reflect redox changes in the lake, going from oxic to anoxic and sulfidic. Most microbial activity occurs within the top 40 cm of sediment, where millimolar sulfate concentrations diffusing in from the bottom water are completely consumed. In deeper sediment layers, organic carbon remineralization is much slower but microorganisms nonetheless subsist on fermentation, sulfur cycling, metal reduction, and methanogenesis. The most surprising finding was the presence of a deep, oxidizing groundwater source. This water source generates an inverse redox gradient at the bottom of the sedimentary sequence and could contribute to the remineralization of organic matter sequestered in the energy-limited deep subsurface.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted October 05, 2021.
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Ancient and modern geochemical signatures in the 13,500-year sedimentary record of Lake Cadagno
Jasmine S. Berg, Mathilde Lepine, Emile Laymand, Xingguo Han, Hendrik Vogel, Marina A. Morlock, Niroshan Gajendra, Adrian Gilli, Stefano Bernasconi, Carsten J. Schubert, Guangyi Su, Mark A. Lever
bioRxiv 2021.10.04.463023; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.04.463023
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Ancient and modern geochemical signatures in the 13,500-year sedimentary record of Lake Cadagno
Jasmine S. Berg, Mathilde Lepine, Emile Laymand, Xingguo Han, Hendrik Vogel, Marina A. Morlock, Niroshan Gajendra, Adrian Gilli, Stefano Bernasconi, Carsten J. Schubert, Guangyi Su, Mark A. Lever
bioRxiv 2021.10.04.463023; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.04.463023

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