Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 4 March 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5714, pp. 1428 - 1434
DOI: 10.1126/science.1102556
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Research Articles

A Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem: The Lost City Hydrothermal Field

Deborah S. Kelley,1* Jeffrey A. Karson,2 Gretchen L. Früh-Green,3 Dana R. Yoerger,4 Timothy M. Shank,4 David A. Butterfield,5 John M. Hayes,4 Matthew O. Schrenk,1 Eric J. Olson,1 Giora Proskurowski,1 Mike Jakuba,6 Al Bradley,4 Ben Larson,1 Kristin Ludwig,1 Deborah Glickson,1 Kate Buckman,4 Alexander S. Bradley,7 William J. Brazelton,1 Kevin Roe,5 Mitch J. Elend,1 Adélie Delacour,3 Stefano M. Bernasconi,3 Marvin D. Lilley,1 John A. Baross,1 Roger E. Summons,7 Sean P. Sylva4

The serpentinite-hosted Lost City hydrothermal field is a remarkable submarine ecosystem in which geological, chemical, and biological processes are intimately interlinked. Reactions between seawater and upper mantle peridotite produce methane- and hydrogen-rich fluids, with temperatures ranging from <40° to 90°C at pH 9 to 11, and carbonate chimneys 30 to 60 meters tall. A low diversity of microorganisms related to methane-cycling Archaea thrive in the warm porous interiors of the edifices. Macrofaunal communities show a degree of species diversity at least as high as that of black smoker vent sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, but they lack the high biomasses of chemosynthetic organisms that are typical of volcanically driven systems.

1 School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
2 Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
3 Department of Earth Sciences, ETH-Zentrum, Zurich, Switzerland.
4 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
5 Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle WA 98115, USA.
6 MIT/WHOI Joint Program, WHOI, Woods Hole MA 02543, USA.
7 Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA 02139, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kelley{at}ocean.washington.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Genome beginnings: rooting the tree of life.
J. A. Lake, R. G. Skophammer, C. W. Herbold, and J. A. Servin (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 2177-2185
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Strong Release of Methane on Mars in Northern Summer 2003.
M. J. Mumma, G. L. Villanueva, R. E. Novak, T. Hewagama, B. P. Bonev, M. A. DiSanti, A. M. Mandell, and M. D. Smith (2009)
Science 323, 1041-1045
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fe-Ni-Co-O-S Phase Relations in Peridotite-Seawater Interactions.
F. Klein and W. Bach (2009)
J. Petrology 50, 37-59
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for a New Root of the Tree of Life.
J. A. Lake, J. A. Servin, C. W. Herbold, and R. G. Skophammer (2008)
Syst Biol 57, 835-843
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Control of the Products of Serpentinization by the Fe2+Mg-1 Exchange Potential of Olivine and Orthopyroxene.
B. W. Evans (2008)
J. Petrology
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Formation of replacement dolomite in the Latemar carbonate buildup, Dolomites, northern Italy: Part 2. Origin of the dolomitizing fluid and the amount and duration of fluid flow.
S. K. Carmichael and J. M. Ferry (2008)
Am J Sci 308, 885-904
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolutionary ecology during the rise of dioxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.
N. H Sleep and D. K Bird (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 2651-2664
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Origin of the Oceanic Lithosphere.
D. C. Presnall and G. H. Gudfinnsson (2008)
J. Petrology 49, 615-632
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at Lost City Hydrothermal Field.
G. Proskurowski, M. D. Lilley, J. S. Seewald, G. L. Fruh-Green, E. J. Olson, J. E. Lupton, S. P. Sylva, and D. S. Kelley (2008)
Science 319, 604-607
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
On the origin of biochemistry at an alkaline hydrothermal vent.
W. Martin and M. J Russell (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 1887-1926
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for a Gram-positive, Eubacterial Root of the Tree of Life.
R. G. Skophammer, J. A. Servin, C. W. Herbold, and J. A. Lake (2007)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 24, 1761-1768
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
On Silica Activity and Serpentinization.
B. R. Frost and J. S. Beard (2007)
J. Petrology 48, 1351-1368
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Extreme accumulation of nucleotides in simulated hydrothermal pore systems.
P. Baaske, F. M. Weinert, S. Duhr, K. H. Lemke, M. J. Russell, and D. Braun (2007)
PNAS 104, 9346-9351
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Techniques for Deep Sea Near Bottom Survey Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.
D. R. Yoerger, M. Jakuba, A. M. Bradley, and B. Bingham (2007)
The International Journal of Robotics Research 26, 41-54
   Abstract »    PDF »
Inaugural Article: Organic haze on Titan and the early Earth.
M. G. Trainer, A. A. Pavlov, H. L. DeWitt, J. L. Jimenez, C. P. McKay, O. B. Toon, and M. A. Tolbert (2006)
PNAS 103, 18035-18042
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Methane- and Sulfur-Metabolizing Microbial Communities Dominate the Lost City Hydrothermal Field Ecosystem.
W. J. Brazelton, M. O. Schrenk, D. S. Kelley, and J. A. Baross (2006)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 72, 6257-6270
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence that the Root of the Tree of Life Is Not within the Archaea.
R. G. Skophammer, C. W. Herbold, M. C. Rivera, J. A. Servin, and J. A. Lake (2006)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 23, 1648-1651
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Palaeoclimates: the first two billion years.
J. F Kasting and S. Ono (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc B 361, 917-929
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The onset and early evolution of life.
M. J. Russell and A. J. Hall (2006)
Geological Society of America Memoirs 198, 1-32
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Desulfotomaculum and Methanobacterium spp. Dominate a 4- to 5-Kilometer-Deep Fault.
D. P. Moser, T. M. Gihring, F. J. Brockman, J. K. Fredrickson, D. L. Balkwill, M. E. Dollhopf, B. S. Lollar, L. M. Pratt, E. Boice, G. Southam, et al. (2005)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 71, 8773-8783
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Building the Biomarker Tree of Life.
J. J. Brocks and A. Pearson (2005)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 59, 233-258
   Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)