Evaluating Serpentinization as a Source of Phosphite to Microbial Communities in Hydrothermal Vents

Previous studies have documented the presence of phosphite, a reduced and highly soluble form of phosphorus, in serpentinites, which has led to the hypothesis that serpentinizing hydrothermal vents could have been an important source of bioavailable phosphorus for early microbial communities in the Archean.

Here, we test this hypothesis by evaluating the genomic hallmarks of phosphorus usage in microbial communities living in modern hydrothermal vents with and without influence from serpentinization. These genomic analyses are combined with results from a geochemical model that calculates phosphorus speciation during serpentinization as a function of temperature, water:rock ratio, and lithology at thermodynamic equilibrium.

We find little to no genomic evidence of phosphite use in serpentinizing environments at the Voltri Massif or the Von Damm hydrothermal field at the Mid Cayman Rise, but relatively more in the Lost City hydrothermal field, Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory, The Cedars, and chimney samples from Old City hydrothermal field and Prony Bay hydrothermal field, as well as in the non‐serpentinizing hydrothermal vents at Axial Seamount.

Geochemical modeling shows that phosphite production is favored at ca 275°C–325°C and low water:rock ratios, which may explain previous observations of phosphite in serpentinite rocks; however, most of the initial phosphate is trapped in apatite during serpentinization, suppressing the absolute phosphite yield.

As a result, phosphite from serpentinizing vents could have supported microbial growth around olivine minerals in chimney walls and suspended aggregates, but it is unlikely to have fueled substantial primary productivity in diffusely venting fluids during life’s origin and evolution in the Archean unless substrates equivalent to dunites (composed of > 90 wt% olivine) were more common.

Ternary diagrams representing estimated phosphite production (a), the ratio of orthophosphate:Phosphite (b), absolute orthophosphate concentration (c) and absolute hydroxyapatite concentrations (d) in ultramafic serpentinites with different compositions of olivine (oli), clinopyroxene (cpx) and orthopyroxene (opx). Black squares at the top indicate the serpentinite composition used to predict phosphite and phosphate production with respect to temperature (Figure 5). Shaded regions correspond to the compositional space of terrestrial ophiolitic and orogenic ultramafic rocks (Ely et al. 2023). The diagram compiles 5130 individual simulations. Numerical data underlying this figure is available in Data S2.

Evaluating Serpentinization as a Source of Phosphite to Microbial Communities in Hydrothermal Vents, Geobiology via PubMed (open access)

Astrobiology