IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-17342-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subduction hides high-pressure sources of energy that may feed the deep subsurface biosphere

Author

Listed:
  • A. Vitale Brovarone

    (Università degli Studi di Torino
    IMPMC)

  • D. A. Sverjensky

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • F. Piccoli

    (University of Bern)

  • F. Ressico

    (Università degli Studi di Torino)

  • D. Giovannelli

    (University of Naples Federico II
    CNR-IRBIM
    Tokyo Institute of Technology
    Rutgers University)

  • I. Daniel

    (LGL-TPE, F-69622)

Abstract

Geological sources of H2 and abiotic CH4 have had a critical role in the evolution of our planet and the development of life and sustainability of the deep subsurface biosphere. Yet the origins of these sources are largely unconstrained. Hydration of mantle rocks, or serpentinization, is widely recognized to produce H2 and favour the abiotic genesis of CH4 in shallow settings. However, deeper sources of H2 and abiotic CH4 are missing from current models, which mainly invoke more oxidized fluids at convergent margins. Here we combine data from exhumed subduction zone high-pressure rocks and thermodynamic modelling to show that deep serpentinization (40–80 km) generates significant amounts of H2 and abiotic CH4, as well as H2S and NH3. Our results suggest that subduction, worldwide, hosts large sources of deep H2 and abiotic CH4, potentially providing energy to the overlying subsurface biosphere in the forearc regions of convergent margins.

Suggested Citation

  • A. Vitale Brovarone & D. A. Sverjensky & F. Piccoli & F. Ressico & D. Giovannelli & I. Daniel, 2020. "Subduction hides high-pressure sources of energy that may feed the deep subsurface biosphere," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17342-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17342-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17342-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-17342-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Miriam Peña-Alvarez & Alberto Vitale Brovarone & Mary-Ellen Donnelly & Mengnan Wang & Philip Dalladay-Simpson & Ross Howie & Eugene Gregoryanz, 2021. "In-situ abiogenic methane synthesis from diamond and graphite under geologically relevant conditions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-5, December.
    2. Francesco Giuntoli & Luca Menegon & Guillaume Siron & Flavio Cognigni & Hugues Leroux & Roberto Compagnoni & Marco Rossi & Alberto Vitale Brovarone, 2024. "Methane-hydrogen-rich fluid migration may trigger seismic failure in subduction zones at forearc depths," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Tuğçe Beyazay & Kendra S. Belthle & Christophe Farès & Martina Preiner & Joseph Moran & William F. Martin & Harun Tüysüz, 2023. "Ambient temperature CO2 fixation to pyruvate and subsequently to citramalate over iron and nickel nanoparticles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17342-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.