Nature Communications (Sep 2023)
Earthquake-enhanced dissolved carbon cycles in ultra-deep ocean sediments
- Mengfan Chu,
- Rui Bao,
- Michael Strasser,
- Ken Ikehara,
- Jez Everest,
- Lena Maeda,
- Katharina Hochmuth,
- Li Xu,
- Ann McNichol,
- Piero Bellanova,
- Troy Rasbury,
- Martin Kölling,
- Natascha Riedinger,
- Joel Johnson,
- Min Luo,
- Christian März,
- Susanne Straub,
- Kana Jitsuno,
- Morgane Brunet,
- Zhirong Cai,
- Antonio Cattaneo,
- Kanhsi Hsiung,
- Takashi Ishizawa,
- Takuya Itaki,
- Toshiya Kanamatsu,
- Myra Keep,
- Arata Kioka,
- Cecilia McHugh,
- Aaron Micallef,
- Dhananjai Pandey,
- Jean Noël Proust,
- Yasufumi Satoguchi,
- Derek Sawyer,
- Chloé Seibert,
- Maxwell Silver,
- Joonas Virtasalo,
- Yonghong Wang,
- Ting-Wei Wu,
- Sarah Zellers
Affiliations
- Mengfan Chu
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China
- Rui Bao
- Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, and Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China
- Michael Strasser
- University of Innsbruck, Institute of Geology
- Ken Ikehara
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Geological Survey of Japan, Institute of Geology and Geoinformation
- Jez Everest
- British Geological Survey, Lyell Centre
- Lena Maeda
- Center for Deep Earth Exploration, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
- Katharina Hochmuth
- School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester
- Li Xu
- NOSAMS Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Ann McNichol
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Piero Bellanova
- RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Neotectonics and Natural Hazards & Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Petroleum and Coal
- Troy Rasbury
- Stony Brook University, Department of Geosciences
- Martin Kölling
- MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Science, University of Bremen
- Natascha Riedinger
- Boone Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University
- Joel Johnson
- University of New Hampshire, Department of Earth Sciences
- Min Luo
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Hadal Science and Technology, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University
- Christian März
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds
- Susanne Straub
- Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Geochemistry Division
- Kana Jitsuno
- Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Waseda University
- Morgane Brunet
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes
- Zhirong Cai
- Kyoto University, Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science
- Antonio Cattaneo
- Geo-Ocean, UMR 6538, Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer
- Kanhsi Hsiung
- Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics, JAMSTEC, Marine Geology and Geophysics Research Group, Subduction Dynamics Research Center
- Takashi Ishizawa
- International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University
- Takuya Itaki
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Geological Survey of Japan, Institute of Geology and Geoinformation
- Toshiya Kanamatsu
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Research Institute of Marine Geodynamics (IMG)
- Myra Keep
- The University of Western Australia, Department School of Earth Sciences
- Arata Kioka
- Kyushu University, Department of Earth Resources Engineering
- Cecilia McHugh
- Queens College, City University of New York, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Aaron Micallef
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
- Dhananjai Pandey
- National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India
- Jean Noël Proust
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes
- Yasufumi Satoguchi
- Lake Biwa Museum
- Derek Sawyer
- The Ohio State University, School of Earth Sciences
- Chloé Seibert
- Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Marine geology and geophysics division
- Maxwell Silver
- Colorado School of Mines, Hydrologic Science and Engineering
- Joonas Virtasalo
- Geological Survey of Finland (GTK)
- Yonghong Wang
- Ocean University of China, Department of Marine Geosciences
- Ting-Wei Wu
- MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Science, University of Bremen
- Sarah Zellers
- University of Central Missouri, Department of Physical Sciences
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41116-w
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 9
Abstract
Abstract Hadal trenches are unique geological and ecological systems located along subduction zones. Earthquake-triggered turbidites act as efficient transport pathways of organic carbon (OC), yet remineralization and transformation of OC in these systems are not comprehensively understood. Here we measure concentrations and stable- and radiocarbon isotope signatures of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC, DIC) in the subsurface sediment interstitial water along the Japan Trench axis collected during the IODP Expedition 386. We find accumulation and aging of DOC and DIC in the subsurface sediments, which we interpret as enhanced production of labile dissolved carbon owing to earthquake-triggered turbidites, which supports intensive microbial methanogenesis in the trench sediments. The residual dissolved carbon accumulates in deep subsurface sediments and may continue to fuel the deep biosphere. Tectonic events can therefore enhance carbon accumulation and stimulate carbon transformation in plate convergent trench systems, which may accelerate carbon export into the subduction zones.
