Sulfur Isotope Fractionation in the Biogeochemical Sulfur Cycle of Marine Sediments

Abstract

The sulfur isotopic record of sedimentary sulfides (mainly pyrite) and sulfates shows considerable variations in time and plays an important role in the biological and geochemical interpretation, e.g., of the evolution of life and the oxygen partial pressure of Earth's atmosphere (e.g. 1]). From a comparison of experimental results with Desulfovibrio spp. it can be inferred that the S isotope fractionation during reduction of sulfur compounds is controlled by the number of electrons transferred (Fig. 1). Sulfur isotope discrimination in the sulfur cycle of marine sediments is dominated by dissimilatory bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR), and 2] used laboratory experiments with mesophilic bacteria to postulate that high sulfate reduction rates with abundant sulfate at enhanced temperature dominated the Ocean water chemistry during early Archean time. Experiments with pure cultures of thermophilic sulfate reducers 3] and natural hydrothermally influenced communities 4], however, demonstrated that isotope discrimination is close to average fractionation by mesophiles and that temperature is not directly influencing isotope discrimination during BSR.