Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
Marine protist diversity inventories have largely focused on planktonic environments, while benthic protists have received relatively little attention. We therefore hypothesize that current diversity surveys have only skimmed the surface of protist diversity in marine sediments, which may harbor greater diversity than planktonic environments. We tested this by analyzing sequences of the hypervariable V4 18S rRNA from benthic and planktonic protist communities sampled in European coastal regions. Despite a similar number of OTUs in both realms, richness estimations indicated that we recovered at least 70% of the diversity in planktonic protist communities, but only 33% in benthic communities. There was also little overlap of OTUs between planktonic and benthic communities, as well as between separate benthic communities. We argue that these patterns reflect the heterogeneity and diversity of benthic habitats. A comparison of all OTUs against the Protist Ribosomal Reference database showed that a higher proportion of benthic than planktonic protist diversity is missing from public databases; similar results were obtained by comparing all OTUs against environmental references from NCBI's Short Read Archive. We suggest that the benthic realm may therefore be the world's largest reservoir of marine protist diversity, with most taxa at present undescribed.
ISSN: 0168-6496

hal-01383722
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01383722
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01383722/document
http://hal.upmc.fr/hal-01383722/file/Forster_2016_Benthic_protists.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/femsec/fiw120

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Although ants may induce community-wide effects via changes in physical habitats in terrestrial environments, their influence on aquatic communities living in plant-held waters remains largely underexplored. The neotropical tank-bromeliad Aechmea mertensii (Bromeliaceae) occurs along forest edges in ant-gardens initiated by Camponotus femoratus or by Pachycondyla goeldii. Its leaves form wells that hold rainwater and provide suitable habitats for many aquatic organisms. We postulated that these ant-plant mutualisms indirectly affect the microbial community structure via changes in the environmental conditions experienced by the plants. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the protist communities from 63 tank-bromeliads associated with either C. femoratus or P. goeldii (hereafter Cf-Aechmea and Pg-Aechmea) along a forest edge in French Guiana. For each plant, a large number of environmental variables (including habitat structure, food resources, incident radiation and the presence of aquatic invertebrates) were quantified to determine their relative importance in driving any observed differences across ant-associated plants. Pg-Aechmea are located in sun-exposed areas and hold low volumes of water and low amounts of detritus, whereas Cf-Aechmea are located in partially shaded areas and accumulate higher amounts of water and detritus. Protists (i.e., protozoa and algae) inhabiting Cf-Aechmea exhibit greater richness and abundances than those in Pg-Aechmea. Variations in detritus content, number of leaves, incident radiation, and the epiphyte richness of the ant-garden were the main factors explaining the variation in protist richness. A shift in the functional group composition of protists between bromeliads tended by different ant species suggested that mutualistic ants indirectly mediate changes in the microbial food web.
Basic and Applied Ecology

hal-00913126
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00913126
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00913126/document
DOI : 10.1016/j.baae.2012.10.002
OATAO : 10190

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Although ants may induce community-wide effects via changes in physical habitats in terrestrial environments, their influence on aquatic communities living in plant-held waters remains largely underexplored. The neotropical tank-bromeliad Aechmea mertensii (Bromeliaceae) occurs along forest edges in ant-gardens initiated by Camponotus femoratus or by Pachycondyla goeldii. Its leaves form wells that hold rainwater and provide suitable habitats for many aquatic organisms. We postulated that these ant-plant mutualisms indirectly affect the microbial community structure via changes in the environmental conditions experienced by the plants. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the protist communities from 63 tank-bromeliads associated with either C. femoratus or P. goeldii (hereafter Cf-Aechmea and Pg-Aechmea) along a forest edge in French Guiana. For each plant, a large number of environmental variables (including habitat structure, food resources, incident radiation and the presence of aquatic invertebrates) were quantified to determine their relative importance in driving any observed differences across ant-associated plants. Pg-Aechmea are located in sun-exposed areas and hold low volumes of water and low amounts of detritus, whereas Cf-Aechmea are located in partially shaded areas and accumulate higher amounts of water and detritus. Protists (i.e., protozoa and algae) inhabiting Cf-Aechmea exhibit greater richness and abundances than those in Pg-Aechmea. Variations in detritus content, number of leaves, incident radiation, and the epiphyte richness of the ant-garden were the main factors explaining the variation in protist richness. A shift in the functional group composition of protists between bromeliads tended by different ant species suggested that mutualistic ants indirectly mediate changes in the microbial food web.
ISSN: 1439-1791

hal-00817519
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00817519

Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most oligotrophic marine areas on earth where nitrogen fixation has formally believed to play an important role in carbon and nitrogen fluxes. Although this view is under debate, the diazotrophs responsible for this activity have still not been investigated in the open sea. In this study, we characterised the surface distribution and species richness of unicellular and filamentous diazotrophs across the Mediterranean Sea by combining microscopic counts with size fractionated in situ hybridization (TSA-FISH), and 16S rDNA and nifH genes phylogenies. These genetic analyses were possible owing to the development of a new PCR protocol adapted to scarce microorganisms that can detect as few as 1 cell ml(-1) in cultures. Low concentrations of diazotrophic cyanobacteria were detected and this community was dominated at 99.9% by picoplankton hybridized to the Nitro821 probe, specific for unicellular diazotrophic cyanobacteria (UCYN). Among filamentous cyanobacteria only 0.02 filament ml(-1) of Richelia were detected in the eastern basin, while small (0.7-1.5 mu m) and large (2.5-3.2 mu m) Nitro821-targeted cells were recovered at all stations with a mean concentration of 3.5 cell ml(-1). The affiliation of the small Nitro821-targeted cells to UCYN-A was confirmed by 16S and nifH phylogenies in the western Mediterranean Sea. In the central and the eastern Mediterranean Sea no 16S rDNA and nifH sequence from UCYN was obtained as cells concentration were close to, or below PCR detection limit. Bradyrhizobium sequences dominated nifH clone libraries from picoplanktonic size fractions. A few sequences of gamma-proteobacteria were also detected in the central Mediterranean Sea. While low phosphate and iron concentrations could explain the absence of Trichodesmium sp., the factors that prevent the development of UCYN-B and C remain unknown. We also propose that the dominating picoplankters probably developed specific strategies, such as associations with protists or particles, and/or photosynthetic activity, to acquire carbon for sustaining diazotrophy.
Biogeosciences (1726-4170) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2011 , Vol. 8 , N. 3 , P. 827-840

Droits : Author(s) 2011. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00133/24392/22416.pdf
DOI:10.5194/bg-8-827-2011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00133/24392/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A reactive percolation experiment was conducted by injecting seawater into a permeable olivine aggregate at 190 °C and 19 MPa to explore the relationships between hydration reactions and hydrodynamic properties during the onset of serpentinization in the ultramafic lithosphere exposed at mid-ocean ridges. The experiment was stopped after 23 days when the sample became impermeable. The initial flow rate was 0.2 mL/h and then was decreased down to 0.06 mL/h after 8 days. Permeability decreased continuously throughout the experiment. The analyses of fluid chemistry time series and of the mineralogy and structure of the reacted sample showed olivine dissolution and precipitation of proto-serpentine, brucite and Fe-oxides. These reactions are controlled by coupled hydrodynamic and chemical processes interacting at different time and spatial scales. Their first characteristic is the production of silica rich outlet fluids in disequilibrium with the observed reacted mineral assemblages. These compositions are interpreted as resulting from a suite of coupled dissolution-precipitation reactions, controlled at the pore scale by surface kinetic processes, that rapidly reaches steady-state (constant fluid composition independent of fluid flux). Hence, the effective rate of serpentinization was controlled, to the first order, by the transport of reactants during the experiment. Mass balance calculations show that the rate of olivine conversion was fast (0.2-0.5 wt%/day), yet only ∼8 wt% of the olivine sample reacted, because the permeability drop limited fluid circulation. Porosity varied little during the experiment compared to permeability changes: the decrease of permeability was explained by the structure of the newly formed serpentine favouring the clogging of fluid paths. The rate at which permeability decreased was the fastest at low flux conditions. This suggests that permeability changes were not controlled simply by the kinetics of the serpentinization reactions, but mainly reflected the development of low Peclet pore scale zones forming micro-environments that control the serpentinization reaction-paths. These results outline the need to take into account the coupling of hydrodynamic and chemical processes when modelling the effects of reactive transport within the hydrating oceanic lithosphere.
ISSN: 0012-821X

hal-00855043
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00855043
DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2013.03.052

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The kinetics of hydrogenation of dry iron-bearing olivine single crystals was determined by performing hydration experiments under hydrothermal conditions at high pressure. The experiments were performed in a multi-anvil press at 3 GPa, for a temperature range between 900 and 1200 °C and for various durations. The oxygen fugacity was buffered along Ni-NiO joint. Polarized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and recent empirical calibration were used to quantify the hydroxyl distributions in the samples along crystallographic axes after the experiments. The chemical diffusion coefficients are similar (barely slower) than in olivine hydrated at lower pressure (0.2 and 0.3 GPa) for the same diffusion mechanism. Under the given experimental conditions, the anisotropy of diffusion is the same as for proton-vacancy mechanism, with diffusion along the [0 0 1] axis faster than along the [1 0 0]. However, the anisotropy at 3 GPa is weaker compared to measurements at lower pressures and the analysis of concentration profiles using 3D models shows that an isotropic solution could also be relevant. Fits of the diffusion data to an Arrhenius law yield activation energies for the slightly faster [0 0 1] axis of the crystallographic axes around 198 ± 5 kJ mol−1, a value only slightly lower than the results from previous experimental studies for natural iron-bearing olivine hydrogenated at lower confining pressure. At 3 GPa, hydrogenation can be well approximated by a single mechanism controlled by coupled diffusion of protons and octahedral vacancies (di- and tri-valent ions). The diffusion rates are fast enough to alter hydrogen concentration within olivine in xenoliths ascending from the mantle or experiencing hydrogen-rich metasomatism events, but too slow to permit complete homogenization of hydrogen in olivine-rich rocks at kilometer scale in less than one My.
ISSN: 0031-9201

hal-01412663
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01412663
DOI : 10.1016/j.pepi.2016.08.005

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The crust of the Paleoproterozoic West African Craton in northern Ghana is dominantly made of Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite (TTG) suites, low-K to high-K calc-alkaline granites, with minor LILE-enriched diorites, and chemically related lavas. Results of zircon U-Pb dating indicate that all these different rock types were formed together over a prolonged period of ca. 100 Ma, between 2.21 and 2.11 Ga. Zircon Hf isotope compositions of five samples are supra-chondritic (εHft from +1 to +6) indicating that the granitoids derive from the reworking of juvenile crustal components as old as 2.60 Ga. Geochemical data show that the TTGs were derived from the reworking of a low-K mafic crust, while biotite granites formed by the reworking of older felsic crustal rocks, and diorites derived from the melting of LILE-enriched mantle sources.The combined datasets support a three-step model for the formation of the crust of the West African craton in northern Ghana: (1) a juvenile, mafic proto-crust was extracted from the depleted mantle between 2.60 and 2.30 Ga, in an oceanic environment remote from any pre-existing continental nucleus; (2) the mafic proto-crust was reworked in several primitive magmatic arcs or in accreted oceanic plateaux. Crustal reworking initially produced minor felsic magmatism between 2.35 and 2.21 Ga, followed by the 2.21–2.15 Ga emplacement of low- to medium-P TTG and K-rich calc-alkaline granitoid suites, and was coeval with the formation of an enriched mantle source. (3) Various proto-continental terranes collided during the Eburnean orogeny between 2.14 and 2.11 Ga, triggering intense reworking of the composite crust and mantle reservoirs formed in the previous two steps, i.e. remnants of the juvenile mafic crust, older TTGs and biotite granites, and previously enriched mantle sources. The emplacement of high-P TTGs, granites and LILE-enriched diorites resulted from lower crustal heating in response to the delamination of the lower crust and lithospheric mantle. The Eburnean collision therefore marks the final stages of a 200–500 Ma long period of juvenile continental crust formation and stabilisation. The datasets further reveal that the Paleoproterozoic West African Craton comprises a minimum of two distinct crustal blocks, with north-western Ghana lying at their interface.
ISSN: 0301-9268

hal-01467999
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01467999
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2016.10.011

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Carbonation of peridotite is a widespread process in nature, with emerging societal and environmental implications through geological storage of CO2. We studied the micro- and nano-scale structures associated with the carbonation of peridotite pervaded by a CO2-rich water and the induced changes of its hydrodynamic properties. Focused ion beam (FIB) nanotomography was coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. An experimental sample of dunite core percolated by a CO2-rich fluid (pCO2 = 11 MPa) at 160 °C was compared with a naturally carbonated sample from the Atlantic Ridge (Exp. IODP 304). Results of the 8-days percolation experiment show continuous alteration of olivine into magnesite locally associated with a poorly crystalline serpentine-type mineral referred to as proto-serpentine. The experiment is also characterized by an overall decrease in rock porosity (from 7.7 to 6.4%) and permeability (from 8.5 × 10− 16 to 1.7 × 10− 16 m2). The primary inter-granular porosity (1 to 10 μm) is progressively filled with magnesite, leading to the overall decrease of permeability. At the same time, a secondary small-scale porosity (10 nm to 1 μm) is created at the tip of the dissolution features along the (010) cleavage planes of olivine grains. Carbonate crystals grow within these etch-pit structures behind the dissolution front. Dissolution and precipitation occur at a relative rate that maintains the secondary porosity over the timescale of the experiment (i.e. carbonate growth has to be the slowest one). This process is interpreted as an interface coupled dissolution-precipitation mechanism of olivine carbonation. Proto-serpentine is only formed in highly reduced flow areas, such as small olivine etch-pits (10 to 500 nm wide), which are more isolated from CO2 input. SEM-FIB analyses show the 3D preferential orientation of the dissolution-precipitation planes within a given olivine grain. It suggests the formation of lateral connections between the etch-pits (infra-micrometric “channels”) providing access to reactants and removing reaction products at the reaction sites. The experimental results show that olivine dissolution and magnesite precipitation converge to a quasi-steady state resulting in a constant carbonation rate controlled by reaction kinetics and not by mass transfer for this flow regime. The system self-regulates, independently of the porosity change at least during this incipient stage of olivine carbonation. Similar textures are observed in natural samples collected at 170 m-depth in the vicinity of veinlets driving late fluids down into the cooling oceanic lithosphere. This suggests that similar mechanisms are active in nature and can play an important role in the late, low temperature alteration stages of fractured peridotite. These results also highlight the critical role of nm-scale spatial arrangement of dissolution and precipitation features on mass transfers and on the sustainability of olivine carbonation through coupled dissolution-precipitation processes.
ISSN: 0009-2541

hal-01684733
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01684733
DOI : 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.013