Microbial diversity and authigenic siderite mediation in sediments surrounding the Kedr-1 mud volcano, Lake Baikal.

The gas hydrate-bearing structure-mud volcano Kedr-1 (Lake Baikal, southern basin)-is located near the coal-bearing sediments of the Tankhoy formation of Oligocene-Miocene age and can be an ideal source of gas-saturated fluid. A significant amount of siderite minerals (FeCO ) were collected from sediments at depths ranging from 0.5 to 327 cm below the lake floor (cmblf).

The Ability of Microbial Community of Lake Baikal Bottom Sediments Associated with Gas Discharge to Carry Out the Transformation of Organic Matter under Thermobaric Conditions.

The ability to compare the composition and metabolic potential of microbial communities inhabiting the subsurface sediment in geographically distinct locations is one of the keys to understanding the evolution and function of the subsurface biosphere. Prospective areas for study of the subsurface biosphere are the sites of hydrocarbon discharges on the bottom of the Lake Baikal rift, where ascending fluxes of gas-saturated fluids and oil from deep layers of bottom sediments seep into near-surface sediment. The samples of surface sediments collected in the area of the Posolskaya Bank methane seep were cultured for 17 months under thermobaric conditions (80°C, 5 MPa) with the addition of complementary organic substrate, and a different composition for the gas phase.