The effect of sulfate concentration on (sub)millimeter-scale sulfide δ34S in hypersaline cyanobacterial mats over the diurnal cycle

Substantial isotopic fractionations are associated with many microbial sulfur metabolisms and measurements of the bulk δ34S isotopic composition of sulfur species (predominantly sulfates and/or sulfides) have been a key component in developing our understanding of both modern and ancient biogeochemical cycling. However, the interpretations of bulk δ34S measurements are often non-unique, making reconstructions of paleoenvironmental conditions or microbial ecology challenging. In particular, the link between the μm-scale microbial activity that generates isotopic signatures and their eventual preservation as a bulk rock value in the geologic record has remained elusive, in large part because of the difficulty of extracting sufficient material at small scales. Here we investigate the potential for small-scale (∼100 μm-1 cm) δ34S variability to provide additional constraints for environmental and/or ecological reconstructions. We have investigated the impact of sulfate concentrations (0.2, 1, and 80 mM SO4) on the δ34S composition of hydrogen sulfide produced over the diurnal (day/night) cycle in cyanobacterial mats from Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Sulfide was captured as silver sulfide on the surface of a 2.5 cm metallic silver disk partially submerged beneath the mat surface. Subsequent analyses were conducted on a Cameca 7f-GEO secondary ion mass spectrometer (SIMS) to record spatial δ34S variability within the mats under different environmental conditions. Isotope measurements were made in a 2-dimensional grid for each incubation, documenting both lateral and vertical isotopic variation within the mats. Typical grids consisted of ∼400-800 individual measurements covering a lateral distance of ∼1 mm and a vertical depth of ∼5-15 mm. There is a large isotopic enrichment (∼10-20‰) in the uppermost mm of sulfide in those mats where [SO4] was non-limiting (field and lab incubations at 80 mM). This is attributed to rapid recycling of sulfur (elevated sulfate reduction rates and extensive sulfide oxidation) at and above the chemocline. This isotopic gradient is observed in both day and night enrichments and suggests that, despite the close physical association between cyanobacteria and select sulfate-reducing bacteria, photosynthetic forcing has no substantive impact on δ34S in these cyanobacterial mats. Perhaps equally surprising, large, spatially-coherent δ34S oscillations (∼20-30‰ over 1 mm) occurred at depths up to ∼1.5 cm below the mat surface. These gradients must arise in situ from differential microbial metabolic activity and fractionation during sulfide production at depth. Sulfate concentrations were the dominant control on the spatial variability of sulfide δ34S. Decreased sulfate concentrations diminished both vertical and lateral δ34S variability, suggesting that small-scale variations of δ34S can be diagnostic for reconstructing past sulfate concentrations, even when original sulfate δ34S is unknown.