Microbially-catalyzed mineral formation – Enhanced carbonate precipitation rates determined by U/Th dating and calcium isotopes

Carbon is removed from Earth’s surface and may be stored within carbonate minerals over long periods of time. The formation of authigenic carbonate in marine sediments accounts for much of this sequestered carbon, whereby the rate of sequestration depends on mineral precipitation rates. Among the catalyzing agents of carbonate precipitation are biofilms and microbial mats, which are ubiquitous in Earth surface environments. Microbial carbonates are abundant at methane seeps where they form by the sulfate-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane (SD-AOM), mediated by anaerobic archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria. We investigated a 5 m long core composed almost entirely of two microbially-derived carbonate cements from an active methane seep in the South China Sea, offshore Taiwan. Phase-specific U/Th dating, lipid biomarker analyses, and calcium isotope data suggest that one of these phases is a direct product of biofilm mineralization, typified by high precipitation rates. This study is the first to estimate the accretion rate of individual carbonate phases in microbial limestones, and provides first-order constraints on the catalytic effect of microbial activity on carbonate precipitation. This has implications on the rate of global carbon burial, which may be significantly increased by the influence of biofilms and microbial mats on carbonate precipitation.