Fluid inclusions as a tool to constrain the preservation conditions of sub-seafloor cryptoendoliths

Abstract

The combination of fluid inclusion analyses and microfossil analyses is an excellent method to study the preservation process of deep sub-seafloor microorganisms. By studying fluid inclusions in the same mineral phases as microfossils, it is possible to reconstruct the conditions that prevailed when the microorganisms where entombed and to put them in a geological and environmental context. This study has been performed on carbonate and gypsum veins in drilled basalt samples from three seamounts belonging to the Emperor Seamounts in the Pacific Ocean: Detroit, Nintoku and Koko Seamounts. The study show that variations in salt composition (MgCl 2, NaCl, KCl and CaCl 2) and salinity (2.1 and 10.5 eq. wt% NaCl) of the hydrothermal fluids do not have an influence on the occurrence of microfossils throughout the samples. The microorganisms were trapped and entombed at minimum temperatures of ∼130 °C which implies that the microorganisms could have existed at temperatures of ∼130 °C for shorter periods of time. The microorganisms were entrapped at shallow-marine to submarine conditions and the entrapment of the microorganisms occurred relatively late compared to the volcanic activity.