Experimental diagenesis of organo-mineral structures formed by microaerophilic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria

Twisted stalks are organo-mineral structures produced by some microaerophilic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria at O2 concentrations as low as 3 μM. The presence of these structures in rocks having experienced a diagenetic history could indicate microbial Fe(II)-oxidizing activity as well as localized abundance of oxygen at the time of sediment deposition. Here we use spectroscopy and analytical microscopy to evaluate if--and what kind of--transformations occur in twisted stalks through experimental diagenesis. Unique mineral textures appear on stalks as temperature and pressure conditions increase. Haematite and magnetite form from ferrihydrite at 170 °C-120 MPa. Yet the twisted morphology of the stalks, and the organic matrix, mainly composed of long-chain saturated aliphatic compounds, are preserved at 250 °C-140 MPa. Our results suggest that iron minerals might play a role in maintaining the structural and chemical integrity of stalks under diagenetic conditions and provide spectroscopic signatures for the search of ancient life in the rock record.