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The discovery of Lake Hephaestus, the youngest athalassohaline deep-sea formation on Earth.
Sci. Rep. 9:1679 (2019)
Hydrated, magnesium-rich minerals and subglacial brines exist on the martian surface, so the habitability of high-Mg2+ environments on Earth has extraterrestrial (as well as terrestrial) implications. Here, we report the discovery of a MgCl2-dominated (4.72 M) brine lake on the floor of the Mediterranean Ridge that underlies a 3500-m water column, and name it Lake Hephaestus. Stable isotope analyses indicated that the Hephaestus brine is derived from interactions between ancient bishofite-enriched evaporites and subsurface fluids. Analyses of sediment pore waters indicated that the Hephaestus depression had contained the MgCl2 brine for a remarkably short period; only 700 years. Lake Hephaestus is, therefore, the youngest among currently known submarine athalassohaline brine lakes on Earth. Due to its biologically hostile properties (low water-activity and extreme chaotropicity), the Hephaestus brine is devoid of life. By contrast, the seawater-Hephaestus brine interface has been shown to act as refuge for extremely halophilic and magnesium-adapted stratified communities of microbes, even at MgCl2 concentrations that approach the water-activity limit for life (0.653).
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Water-activity; Chaotropicity; Life; Perchlorate; Brine; Community; Division; Limit; Soil
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2045-2322
e-ISSN
2045-2322
Journal
Scientific Reports
Quellenangaben
Volume: 9,
Issue: 1,
Article Number: 1679
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Publishing Place
London
Non-patent literature
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Reviewing status
Peer reviewed