Exceptional preservation of fungi as H2-bearing fluid inclusions in an early quaternary paleo-hydrothermal system at Cape Vani, Milos, Greece

Ivarsson, M, Kilias, S, Broman, C, Neubeck, A, Drake, H, Chi Fru, E ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2673-0565, Bengtson, S, Naden, J, Detsi, D and Whitehouse, M 2019. Exceptional preservation of fungi as H2-bearing fluid inclusions in an early quaternary paleo-hydrothermal system at Cape Vani, Milos, Greece. Minerals 9 (12) , 749. 10.3390/min9120749

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Abstract

The production of H2 in hydrothermal systems and subsurface settings is almost exclusively assumed a result of abiotic processes, particularly serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. The origin of H2 in environments not hosted in ultramafic rocks is, as a rule, unjustifiably linked to abiotic processes. Additionally, multiple microbiological processes among both prokaryotes and eukaryotes are known to involve H2-production, of which anaerobic fungi have been put forward as a potential source of H2 in subsurface environments, which is still unconfirmed. Here, we report fungal remains exceptionally preserved as fluid inclusions in hydrothermal quartz from feeder quartz-barite veins from the Cape Vani Fe-Ba-Mn ore on the Greek island of Milos. The inclusions possess filamentous or near-spheroidal morphologies interpreted as remains of fungal hyphae and spores, respectively. They were characterized by microthermometry, Raman spectroscopy, and staining of exposed inclusions with WGA-FITC under fluorescence microscopy. The spheroidal aqueous inclusions interpreted as fungal spores are unique by their coating of Mn-oxide birnessite, and gas phase H2. A biological origin of the H2 resulting from anaerobic fungal respiration is suggested. We propose that biologically produced H2 by micro-eukaryotes is an unrecognized source of H2 in hydrothermal systems that may support communities of H2-dependent prokaryotes.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	MDPI
ISSN:	2075-163X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	16 December 2019
Date of Acceptance:	2 December 2019
Last Modified:	02 May 2023 21:10
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/127558

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