摘要

Shallow, thermally immature organic-rich shales represent considerable resources in the Paris Basin (France). We investigated the presence of methanogenic consortia (i.e., syntrophic bacteria and methanogens) in the Lower Toarcian Paper Shales formation, to link geochemical and lithological properties of the rocks to the spatial distribution of microbial communities. The presence of methanogenic microbial populations, demonstrated via their growth in enrichment cultures, occurs throughout most of the rock layers, and may be explained by the transport of organics and microorganisms within the formation. The enriched consortia were able to utilize the organic matter of the rock as sole carbon source in microcosm, indicating a strong potential of these microbial communities for methanogenesis in situ.

  • 出版日期2015-9-1