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Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida

  • Biogeochemistry Letters
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Abstract

Iron redox cycling in metal-rich, hypersaline, anoxic brines plays a central role in the biogeochemical evolution of life on Earth, and similar brines with the potential to harbor life are thought to exist elsewhere in the solar system. To investigate iron biogeochemical cycling in a terrestrial analog we determined the iron redox chemistry and isotopic signatures in the cryoencapsulated liquid brines found in frozen Lake Vida, East Antarctica. We used both in situ voltammetry and the spectrophotometric ferrozine method to determine iron speciation in Lake Vida brine (LVBr). Our results show that iron speciation in the anoxic LVBr was, unexpectedly, not free Fe(II). Iron isotope analysis revealed highly depleted values of −2.5‰ for the ferric iron of LVBr that are similar to iron isotopic signatures of Fe(II) produced by dissimilatory iron reduction. The presence of Fe(III) in LVBr therefore indicates dynamic iron redox cycling beyond iron reduction. Furthermore, extremely low δ18O–SO4 2− values (−9.7‰) support microbial iron-sulfur cycling reactions. In combination with evidence for chemodenitrification resulting in iron oxidation, we conclude that coupled abiotic and biotic redox reactions are driving the iron cycle in Lake Vida brine. Our findings challenge the current state of knowledge of anoxic brine chemistry and may serve as an analogue for icy brines found in the outer reaches of the solar system.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this research is gratefully acknowledged from National Science Foundation Awards ANT-0739681 (to A.E.M.) and ANT-0739698 (to P.T.D. and F.K.). N.E.O. gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry program (Grants 1053432 and 1348935). This work was also funded in part by the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (DOE Office of Science BER DE-FCO2-07ER64494) to N.E.O. Additional support was provided by NASA–NASA Astrobiology Institutes “Icy Worlds” (to A.E.M.) and “Water and Astrobiology” at the University of Hawaii (to B.T.G.). Lastly, the National Science Foundation McMurdo LTER Award (ANT-1041742, to P.T.D.) supported the Lake Hoare voltammetry research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Bernadette C. Proemse

  2. Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV, 89512, USA

    Alison E. Murray

  3. School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 Stn CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada

    Christina Schallenberg

  4. Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 80, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Christina Schallenberg & Andrew R. Bowie

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Breege McKiernan & Michael E. Wieser

  6. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, 1000 Pope Rd, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Brian T. Glazer

  7. Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Seth A. Young

  8. Department of Integrative Biology and DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, 288 Farm Lane, East Lansing, MI, 48824-5633, USA

    Nathaniel E. Ostrom

  9. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Fabien Kenig

  10. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, E235 Howe Russell Geosciences Complex, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Peter T. Doran

  11. Physics and Astronomy, Curtin University, Kent St, Bentley, WA, Australia, 6102

    Ross Edwards

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  1. Bernadette C. Proemse
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  2. Alison E. Murray
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  3. Christina Schallenberg
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Correspondence to Alison E. Murray.

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Responsible Editor: Stuart Grandy.

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Proemse, B.C., Murray, A.E., Schallenberg, C. et al. Iron cycling in the anoxic cryo-ecosystem of Antarctic Lake Vida. Biogeochemistry 134, 17–27 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0346-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0346-5

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