Abstract
To identify the methanogenic pathways present in a deep aquifer associated with an accretionary prism in Southwest Japan, a series of geochemical and microbiological studies of natural gas and groundwater derived from a deep aquifer were performed. Stable carbon isotopic analysis of methane in the natural gas and dissolved inorganic carbon (mainly bicarbonate) in groundwater suggested that the methane was derived from both thermogenic and biogenic processes. Archaeal 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed the dominance of H2-using methanogens in the groundwater. Furthermore, the high potential of methane production by H2-using methanogens was shown in enrichments using groundwater amended with H2 and CO2. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that fermentative bacteria inhabited the deep aquifer. Anaerobic incubations using groundwater amended with organic substrates and bromoethanesulfonate (a methanogen inhibitor) suggested a high potential of H2 and CO2 generation by fermentative bacteria. To confirm whether or not methane is produced by a syntrophic consortium of H2-producing fermentative bacteria and H2-using methanogens, anaerobic incubations using the groundwater amended with organic substrates were performed. Consequently, H2 accumulation and rapid methane production were observed in these enrichments incubated at 55 and 65 °C. Thus, our results suggested that past and ongoing syntrophic biodegradation of organic compounds by H2-producing fermentative bacteria and H2-using methanogens, as well as a thermogenic reaction, contributes to the significant methane reserves in the deep aquifer associated with the accretionary prism in Southwest Japan.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Katsuya Yabuzaki and Masataka Saito (Shimada City Hall) for help with the natural gas and groundwater sampling. We thank Julia Maresca for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientist (B) (No. 18710007) and Scientific Research (A) (No.19201004) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) Cooperative Research Scheme on the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, and the Global Environment Research Fund (B-094) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.
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Kimura, H., Nashimoto, H., Shimizu, M. et al. Microbial methane production in deep aquifer associated with the accretionary prism in Southwest Japan. ISME J 4, 531–541 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2009.132
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2009.132
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