Palagonitization of Basalt Glass in the Flanks of Mid-Ocean Ridges: Implications for the Bioenergetics of Oceanic Intracrustal Ecosystems

When basalt is exposed to oxygenated aqueous solutions, rims of palagonite form along fractures at the expense of glass. We employed electron microprobe and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyses of fresh glass and adjacent palagonite crusts to determine the geochemical changes involved in palagonite formation. Samples were retrieved from drill cores taken in the North Pond Area, located on the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 22°45'N and 46°05'W. We also analyzed whole rock powders to determine the overall crust-seawater exchange in a young ridge flank. Radioactive elements are enriched in palagonite relative to fresh glass, reaching concentrations where radiolytic production of molecular hydrogen (H2) may be a significant energy source. Based on these results, we hypothesize that microbial ecosystems in ridge flank habitats undergo a transition in the principal energy carrier, fueling carbon fixation from Fe oxidation in very young crust to H2 consumption in older crust. Unless the H2 is swept away by rapid fluid flow (i.e., in young flanks), it may easily accumulate to levels high enough to support chemolithoautotrophic life. In older flanks, crustal sealing and sediment accumulation have slowed down seawater circulation, and the significance of radiolytically produced H2 for catalytic energy supply is expected to increase greatly. Similar habitats on other planetary surfaces are theoretically possible, as accumulation of radiolytically produced hydrogen merely requires the presence of H2O molecules and a porous medium, from which the hydrogen is not lost.