Microbial biomarkers from the East China Sea and implications for paleoenvironmental reconstructions

Abstract:

We report the vertical and spatial distributions of isoprenoid glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), ladderanes and phytoplankton biomarkers in suspended particulates from the East China Sea (ECS) to evaluate the living habitat and environments of the planktonic archaea Thaumarchaeota and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria, respectively. Maximum GDGT concentration mostly occurred in bottom waters while maximum phytoplankton biomarker concentration occurred in the surface layers; and these results from the ECS provides further evidence for the use of the TEX86 index as a proxy for bottom water temperature in shallow shelf sea environments. Ladderanes were detected in both surface and subsurface particulates, suggesting that anammox activity was widespread in both the hypoxia zone near the Changjiang Estuary and in the mid-shelf of the ECS. Thus, anaerobic condition is not a requirement for anammox bacteria; however, ladderane-derived anammox activity was higher in lower oxygen environments, confirming ladderanes as useful proxies for reconstructing hypoxia changes.

Statistical analysis will be presented to assess the link between archaea (Thaumarchaeota) performing aerobic ammonia oxidation and bacteria (anammox) performing anaerobic ammonium oxidation in the ECS, the implications for both carbon and nitrogen cycles.