Archaeal lipids in Mediterranean cold seeps:: Molecular proxies for anaerobic methane oxidation

We investigated the distributions and delta C-13 values of biomarkers for Archaea associated with anaerobic methane oxidation in disparate settings throughout two Eastern Mediterranean mud dome fields. All major classes of archaeal lipids are present in the studied sediments, including isoprenoid glycerol diethers, isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers, and irregular isoprenoid hydrocarbons. Of the compounds present, many, including a novel glycerol tetraether and sn-3-hydroxyarchaeol. have not been previously reported for settings in which methane oxidation is presumed to occur. Archaeal lipids are depleted in C-13, indicating that the Archaea from which they derive are either directly or indirectly involved with methane consumption. The most widespread archaeal lipids are archaeol, PMI, and glycerol tetraethers, and these compounds are present at all active sites. However, archaeal lipid abundances and distributions are highly variable; ratios of crocetane, PMI, and hydroxyarchaeol relative to archaeol vary from 0 to 6.5, from 0 to 2, and from 0 to 1. respectively. These results suggest that archaeal communities differ amongst the sites examined. In addition, carbon isotopic variability amongst archaeal biomarkers in a given mud breccia can be as large as 24 parts per thousand, suggesting that even at single sites multiple archaeal species perform or are supported by anaerobic methane oxidation. Copyright (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.