Vertical stratification of subsurface microbial community composition across geological formations at the Hanford Site
The microbial diversity in subsurface sediments at the Hanford Site's 300 Area in southeastern Washington State was investigated by analyzing 21 samples recovered from depths that ranged from 9 to 52 m. Approximately 8000 non-chimeric Bacterial and Archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences were analyzed across geological strata that contain a natural redox transition zone. These strata included the oxic coarse-grained Hanford formation, fine-grained oxic and anoxic Ringold Formation sediments, and the weathered basalt group. We detected 1233 and 120 unique bacterial and archaeal OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units, defined at the 97% identity level). Microbial community structure and richness varied substantially across the different geological strata. Bacterial OTU richness (based upon Chao1 estimator) was highest (>700) in the upper Hanford formation, and declined to about 120 at the bottom of the Hanford formation. Just above the Ringold oxic-anoxic transition zone, richness was about 325 and declined to less than 50 in the deeper reduced zones. The Bacterial community in the oxic Hanford and Ringold Formations contained members of 9 major well-recognized phyla as well 30 as unusually high proportions of 3 candidate divisions (GAL15, NC10, and SPAM). The deeper Ringold strata were characterized by low OTU richness and a very high preponderance (ca. 90%) of Proteobacteria. The study has greatly expanded the intralineage phylogenetic diversity within some major divisions. These subsurface sediments have been shown to contain a large number of phylogenetically novel microbes, with substantial heterogeneities between sediment samples from the same geological formation.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1037514
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-73336; KP1702030; TRN: US201207%%322
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 14, Issue 2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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