Journal article

A comparison of the molecular composition of plant and fungal structural biopolymer standards with the organic material in early cretaceous Ontong Java Plateau Tuff

Graham Purvis, Naoko Sano, Cees van der Land, Anders Barlow, Peter Cumpson, Neil Gray, Elisa Lopez-Capel

CHEMICAL GEOLOGY | ELSEVIER | Published : 2021

Abstract

Earlier investigations have suggested that an extensive deep biosphere with a significant fungal component is present within the sub-oceanic crust. To investigate this further, the organic material in the lithic sections of a sub-oceanic volcaniclastic tuff obtained from the eastern lobe of the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP tuff) were characterised using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal hydrolysis and methylation coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In the investigation here, the chemical and molecular composition of plant and fungal structural biopolymer standards were characterised using the same techniques and then compared to the organic material from the OJP tuff. Thi..

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Funding Acknowledgements

The Author is deeply grateful for the bursary generously provided by The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust without which this project would not be possible. Many thanks also to the IODP Gulf of Mexico repository in Texas for the supply of geological samples, and their kind assistance Thanks to all the team at NEXUS, Newcastle University. X-ray photoelectron spectra were obtained at the National EPSRC XPS Users' Service (NEXUS) at Newcastle University, an EPSRC Mid-Range Facility, and Paul Donohoe for operating the pyrolysis-GCMS.