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The potential significance of microbial Fe(III) reduction during deposition of Precambrian banded iron formations
Abstract
ABSTRACT During deposition of late Archean–early Palaeoproterozoic Precambrian banded iron formations (BIFs) the downward flux of ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)3) and phytoplankton biomass should have facilitated microbial Fe(III) reduction. However, quantifying the significance of such a metabolic pathway in the Precambrian is extremely difficult, considering the post‐depositional alteration of the rocks and the lack of ideal modern analogues. Consequently, we have very few constraints on the Fe cycle at that time, namely (i) the concentration of dissolved Fe(II) in the ocean waters; (ii) by what mechanisms Fe(II) was oxidized (chemical, photochemical or biological, the latter using either O2 or light); (iii) where the ferric hydroxide was precipitated (over the shelf vs. open ocean); (iv) the amount of phytoplankton biomass, which relates to the nutrient status of the surface waters; (v) the relative importance of Fe(III) reduction vs. the other types of metabolic pathways utilized by sea floor microbial communities; and (vi) the proportion of primary vs. diagenetic Fe(II) in BIF. Furthermore, although estimates can be made regarding the quantity of reducing equivalents necessary to account for the diagenetic Fe(II) component in Fe‐rich BIF layers, those same estimates do not offer any insights into the magnitude of Fe(III) actually generated within the water column, and hence, the efficiency of Fe and C recycling prior to burial. Accordingly, in this study, we have attempted to model the ancient Fe cycle, based simply on conservative experimental rates of photosynthetic Fe(II) oxidation in the euphotic zone. We estimate here that under ideal growth conditions, as much as 70% of the biologically formed Fe(III) could have been recycled back into the water column via fermentation and organic carbon oxidation coupled to microbial Fe(III) reduction. By comparing the potential amount of biomass generated phototrophically with the reducing equivalents required for Fe(III) reduction and magnetite formation, we also hypothesize that another anaerobic metabolic pathway might have been utilized in the surface sediment to oxidize the fermentation by‐products. Based on the premise that the deep ocean waters were anoxic, this role could have been fulfilled by methanogens, and maybe even methanotrophs that employed Fe(III) reduction.
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“They showed that under ideal growth conditions, as much as 70% of the biologically produced Fe(III) could have been recycled back into the water column via fermentation and organic carbon oxidation coupled to DIR.”
From Iron formations: A global record of Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic environmental history (2017) · cites this paper as Konhauser et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Moreover, the reduction of ferric iron may also have been coupled to the anaerobic oxidation of methane (Konhauser et al., 2005), an observation supported by the reaction's likely occurrence in modern marine sediments (Riedinger et al., 2014) and lakes (Crowe et al., 2011), as well as in culture experiments (Ettwig et al., 2016; Bray et al., 2017).”
From Iron formations: A global record of Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic environmental history (2017) · cites this paper as Konhauser et al., 2005
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Metadata
- Authors
- KONHAUSER, K. O., NEWMAN, D. K., & KAPPLER, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Alberta (CA)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- KONHAUSER, K. O.
- Venue
- Geobiology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2005-07
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 167-177
- ISSN
- 1472-4669 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-4677
- OpenAlex
- W2103820702
- Cited by
- 252
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 4.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geobiology (publishedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Keywords
- banded iron formations, ferric hydroxide, phytoplankton biomass, magnetite formation, fermentation, organic carbon oxidation, methanogenic archaea, methanotrophic bacteria, reducing equivalents, iron recycling
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