• Biogeochemistry and timing of methane-derived carbonate formation at Leirdjupet fault complex, SW Barents sea 

      Argentino, Claudio; Lee, Amicia; Fallati, Luca; Sahy, Diana; Birgel, Daniel; Peckmann, Jörn; Bünz, Stefan; Panieri, Giuliana (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2022-10-25)
      The origin of modern seafloor methane emissions in the Barents Sea is tightly connected to the glacio-tectonic and oceanographic transformations following the last ice age. Those regional events induced geological structure re-activation and destabilization of gas hydrate reservoirs over large areas of the European continental margins, sustaining widespread fluid plumbing systems. Despite the ...
    • Nitrogen uptake by methanotrophic consortia in deep-water gas hydrate-bearing sediments 

      Argentino, Claudio; Wittig, Cathrin; Peckmann, Jörn; Panieri, Giuliana (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2023-07-19)
      Methane-consuming microbes inhabiting marine methane seeps have recently been found to have the capacity to assimilate inorganic nitrogen, suggesting a previously unaccounted role in the global nitrogen cycle. Despite ex-situ experimental observations, definitive evidence of this process under in-situ conditions remains elusive, hindering the complete understanding of the controlling factors and ...
    • Putative fossils of chemotrophic microbes preserved in seep carbonates from Vestnesa Ridge, off northwest Svalbard, Norway 

      Himmler, Tobias; Cremiere, Antoine; Birgel, Daniel; Wirth, Richard; Orphan, Victoria J.; Kirsimae, Kalle; Knies, Jochen; Peckmann, Jörn; Lepland, Aivo (Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2021-10-20)
      The microbial key players at methane seeps are methanotrophic archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria. They form spherical aggregates and jointly mediate the sulfate-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane (SD–AOM: CH4 + SO42– → HCO3– + HS– + H2O), thereby inducing the precipitation of authigenic seep carbonates. While seep carbonates constitute valuable archives for molecular fossils of SD–AOM-mediating ...