Response of methanogenesis to the local environment along a 2.0-km deep Quaternary Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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The dominant methanogens were Methanosarcina and Methanohalophilus.
Methanogens abundance matched that of methane metabolism genes abundance.
The only detected pathway was acetoclastic methanogenesis.
Lithology might serve as an indicator of methanogenic potential.
Methanogenesis was auxiliary impacted by microbial C, N and S cycling.
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ABSTRACT
Biogenic gas in deep subsurface has gained significant attention as a clean and efficient energy source. Due to the challenges associated with sample extraction, knowledge regarding the methanogenesis mechanism in deep biogenic gas fields remains limited. Herein, metagenomic sequencing was employed to investigate the microbial communities, functional genes, metabolic pathways, and their potential determinants in rock samples collected from depths of 100,1000 , and 2000 meters within Quaternary biogenic gas fields in the Qaidam Basin. The analysis revealed substantial variation in the methanogenesis-associated microbiome across different depths. Key physicochemical parameters influencing microbial community composition and the relative abundance of methanogenesis-related functional genes included total carbon, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, chlorine, boron, magnesium, and mineral composition. The dominant methanogens identified were Methanosarcina and Methanohalophilus, with their relative abundance correlating with the distribution of methane metabolism genes. Notably, only genes associated with acetate utilization methanogenic metabolic pathway were detected. Interestingly, significant increases in dolomite concentration at1000 m and calcite at 2000 m were linked to variations in the abundance of methanogenesis-related functional genes, suggesting that lithological characteristics may serve as an indicator of methanogenic potential. Additionally, the study identified connections between carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur microbial cycling pathways and the abundance of methanogenesis-related functional genes, highlighting the auxiliary role of microbial-mediated carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling in methanogenesis. These findings provide direct evidence of methanogenesis processes and their determinants, offering valuable insights into Quaternary biogenic gas production. -
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Ni R, Yang S., Tan Y., et al. (2025). Response of methanogenesis to the local environment along a 2.0-km deep Quaternary Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks. The Innovation Geoscience 3:100125. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100125
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Ni R, Yang S., Tan Y., et al. (2025). Response of methanogenesis to the local environment along a 2.0-km deep Quaternary Saline Lacustrine Source Rocks. The Innovation Geoscience 3:100125. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2024.100125
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Figure 1.
Scanning electron microscopy images of the minerals with the highest proportion at three depths
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Figure 2.
Physiochemical parameters (A), mineral content (B), and clay mineral content (C) profiles across depths
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Figure 3.
Relative abundance of top four bacterial phyla (mean ± standard error)
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Figure 4.
Correlation between microbial community composition, species abundance, functional genes abundance, the concentration of physiochemical parameters, and mineral
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Figure 6.
Heatmaps showing the gene abundances for methanogenic substrate metabolism (A), methane metabolism (B), nitrogen metabolism (C), and sulfur metabolism (D)
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Figure 5.
Relative abundance of CAZy modules, including auxiliary activities (AA), carbohydrate binding (CB), carbohydrate esterases (CE), glycoside hydrolases (GH), glycosyl transferases (GT), and polysaccharide lyases (PL)
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Figure 7.
Methanogenesis-related metabolic pathways and potential determinants across depths.
