CV

 

Dr. Alina Stadnitskaia       E-mail: Alina.Stadnitskaia@nioz.nl   Direct Phone: (+31) (0)222-369566

ROYAL NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR SEA RESEARCH (NIOZ)   Postal address: P.O. Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg (Texel) The Netherlands   Visiting address: Landsdiep 4 NL-1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel) The Netherlands Room: C10-14   Phone (reception): (+31) (0)222-369300 Fax: (+31) (0)222-319674

 

 

General

The environmental heterogeneity of continental margins entails development of stunning and diverse biomes abandoning our former vision about deep-sea as lifeless desert. The impressive findings of the last two decades embraced revelations of teeming biodiversity in highly dynamic marine environments provoked by ocean currents, land-slides, and seepage of hydrocarbons, especially methane.             Methane/hydrocarbon seepages are potentially important but not sufficiently quantified geologic source of biogenic and fossil hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide to the ocean and to the atmosphere. Methane is about 21 times more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide by weight and is recognized as one of the most vigorous greenhouse gases. Production, accumulation, and consumption rates of methane in oceanic and lacustrine environments are globally significant. However, specifically the contribution of the oceans to the atmospheric methane budget appears to be small. A significant fraction of the methane flux is either consumed microbially in marine sediments and the water column or temporarily stored as gas hydrates in the subsurface.             Obtained video data and highly-directed sampling of diverse methane seep habitats led to the discovery that many of the macrofaunal representatives thriving around methane seeps belong to groups of invertebrates (e.g. bivalves, crabs), which are well known to inhabit shallow waters. They somehow adapted to these environments through symbioses with microorganisms that use methane, hydrocarbons or other reduced compounds as a source of energy. Their biomass and metabolic products are important basis for mostly unknown food-webs.             Methane efflux is efficiently controlled by methane-oxidizing aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms (some of which were only discovered recently) that thrive along redox gradients in sediments or the water column. Unfortunately, the diversity of the methane-depending microbial community, their biogeochemical functioning as well as the magnitude of methane production and consumption are still poorly constrained. Similarly, many questions as to the geological driving forces governing methane migration, the magnitude of methane venting as well as its (abiotic) fate in sediments and the hydrosphere are still unanswered. Microorganisms that consume methane are also important “biological shield” against methane emissions and the main cause for the formation of peculiar carbonate fabrics. The precipitation mechanisms are not fully understood yet but the activity of methanotrophs appears to play an essential role. These carbonates provide records of geosphere-biosphere interactions through time and are of interest to understand the biochemical exchanges between the earth and the ocean in the past and at present.

Special fields of expertise

Hydrocarbon gas venting, geology and geochemistry of seepage systems, petroleum systems, mud volcanoes, hydrocarbon gas chemistry, gas hydrates, microbial methane turnover; anaerobic and aerobic oxidation of methane; biomineralization and microbial precipitation of methane-related carbonates; modern and ancient carbonate-shaping ecosystems, lipid biomarkers; C and O isotope geochemistry.   Additional fields of interest   Molecular ecology, microbial symbiosis, marine carbon cycle, interactions between carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and iron cycles.

Current  Project

1.      MiCROSYSTEMS - Microbial Diversity and Functionality in Cold-Water Coral Reef Ecosystems – a project within the ESF programme EuroDIVERSITY   Cold-water coral reefs thriving on carbonate mounds have been discovered in the late 90's off western Ireland and recently off Morocco. Mound building seems to be a fundamental but still enigmatic strategy of Life, developed since Precambrian times onwards. Various arguments suggest that microorganisms are playing a major role in reef development and biodiversity. Mounds may find their origin at the confluence of fluxes from external (oceanic) and internal origin (geofluids). Long cores taken in 2004 showed that the 'Pen Duick' mounds off Morocco, in which microbial action was demonstrated by an strong emission of hydrogen sulfide, may be considered as giant biogeochemical reactors. MiCROSYSTEMS proposes to turn the Pen Duick mounds into a natural laboratory through the following actions and experiments: a. - Biotope exploration and characterization of biodiversity through geophysical and video imaging, targeted microbiological profiling, evaluation of present and past oceanic conditions, b. - Microbial diversity census and evaluation of the functional link microbes-metazoans through metazoan species analysis, biogeochemical and molecular fingerprinting, laboratory culturing, fauna-microbe interactions analysis, evaluation of microbially mediated processes of carbonate precipitation, c. - Assessment of the impact of biodiversity changes through the development of a reactor technology to simulate and assess the functionality of the micro-ecological niches and the impact of environmental changes. The MiCROSYSTEMS project closely dovetails with European projects on deep-water coral ecosystem conservation and with IODP Expedition 307. The project will foster a Europe-Maghreb cooperation on the Moroccan margin and contribute to the ICoMM initiative within the Census of Marine Life Programme.   People involved: Dr. A. Stadnitskaia (post-doc), Prof. Dr. J.S. Sinninghe Damsté (PI); Prof. Tj. van Weering, NIOZ, VU (PI).   Funding: ESF (ALW 85501105).   Duration: March 2007 – March 2010   2.      VENI - Geobiology of deep-sea cold seep carbonates: biogeochemical interactions and feedback   At oceanic continental margins, fluids and gases are transported from the deep sedimentary subsurface to the seafloor. Such emissions vary in size from dispersed flows through the seabed to explosive, high-pressure outbursts of gas and fluid-saturated sediments at the seafloor. The ascending fluids contain vast amounts of methane and other chemicals which form the basis for abundant, yet poorly understood microbial communities and a diversity of seep-associated chemosynthetic fauna. In methane seepage systems, anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is the key microbial process, which prevents a significant amount of the greenhouse gas methane to escape to the atmosphere. AOM also results in the production of sulfide and precipitation of carbonate crusts which may serve as a barrier for the upcoming methane. The regulation of methane transport and turnover in marine sediments are still uncertain; micro-organisms that can consume methane anaerobically have yet to be isolated. Since the geosphere-biosphere interactions are multiple in these extreme habitats and yet to be understood, this VENI proposal describes a multidisciplinary project that aims at an increased knowledge about the controls and mechanisms for chemical element transport by hydrocarbon(methane)-rich fluids, breakdown by seep biota, and methane cycling, especially methanotrophy. Methanotrophy serves as a biological shield against methane emissions and results in the formation of carbonates. These carbonates provide records of geosphere-biosphere coupling through time and are of interest to understand the biochemical exchanges between the earth and the ocean in the past and at present. Consequently, I propose in depth study of diverse modern and ancient cold seep-related carbonates applying a pioneering combination of organic and inorganic molecular biogeochemical tools. We believe that projected interdisciplinary research strategy is the most effective solution providing a comprehensive view on the (palaeo)seepage environments governing formation of these carbonates via biogeochemical interactions between seep fluids, methane, microbes, and carbonate minerals.   People involved: Dr. A. Stadnitskaia

Funding: NWO (ALW)

Duration: August 2008 – August 2012

Publications

Stadnitskaia A., and I. Belenkaia. Composition of hydrocarbon gases, organic matter, and authigenic minerals from seabed sediments, United Nations Rise, Eastern Mediterranean Ridge (1998). Rapp. Comm. int. Mer Médit., 35 (I), 102-103. Stadnitskaia A., M. Baas, M.K. Ivanov, T.C.E. van Weering, J.S, Sinninghe Damsté. (2003). Novel archaeal macrocyclic diether core membrane lipids in a methane-derived carbonate crust from a mud volcano in the Sorokin Trough, NE Black Sea. Archaea 1-3, 165-173. Mazzini, A., M.K. Ivanov, J. Parnell, A. Stadnitskaia, B.T. Cronin, E. Poludetkina, L. Mazurenko, T.C.E. van Weering (2004). Methane-related authigenic carbonates from the Black Sea: geochemical characterization and relation to seeping fluids. Marine Geology 212, 153-181. Stadnitskaia, A., G. Muyzer, B. Abbas, M.J.L. Coolen, E.C. Hopmans, M. Baas, T.C.E. van Weering, T.C.E., M.K. Ivanov, E. Poludetkina, J.S. Sinninghe Damsté (2005) Biomarker and 16S rDNA evidence for anaerobic oxidation of methane and related carbonate precipitation in deep-sea mud volcanoes of the Sorokin Trough, Black Sea. Marine Geology  217, 67-96. Stadnitskaia, A, Michail K.Ivanov, Valentina Blinova, Rob Kreulen and Tjeerd C.E.van Weering (2006). Molecular and carbon isotopic variability of hydrocarbon gases from mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cadiz, NE Atlantic. Marine and Petroleum Geology 23, 281-296. Stadnitskaia A., V. Blinova, M.K. Ivanov, M. Baas, E. Hopmans, T.C.E. van Weering and J.S. Sinninghe Damsté (2007). Lipid biomarkers in sediments of mud volcanoes from the Sorokin Trough, NE Black Sea: Probable source strata for the erupted material. Organic Geochemistry  38, 67-83. Stadnitskaia, A., 2007 (PhD thesis). Bio- and petroleum geochemistry  of mud volcanoes in the Sorokin Trough (NE Black Sea) and in the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic): from fluid sources to microbial methane oxidation and carbonate formation. Geologica Ultraiectina 271, ISBN 90-5744-133-0. Stadnitskaia A., Bouloubassi, I., Elvert, M., Hinrichs K.-U., Sinninghe Damsté, J.S. 2007. Extended hydroxy archaeol, a novel lipid biomarker for anaerobic methanotrophy in cold seepage habitats. Organic Geochemistry 39, 1007-1014. Dupré, S., Woodside, J., Foucher, J.-P., de Lange, G., Mascle, J., Boetius, A., Mastalerz, V., Stadnitskaia, A., Ondréas, H., Hugueng, C., Harmégnies, F., Gontharet, S., Loncke, L., Deville, E., Niemann, H., OmoregieE., Olu-Le Royk, K., Fiala-Medionil, A., Dählmann, A.,  Caprais, J.-C., Prinzhofer, A., Sibuet, M., Pierreh, C.,  Sinninghe Damsté, J., and the NAUTINIL Scientific Party, 2007. Seafloor geological studies above active gas chimneys off Egypt (Central Nile Deep Sea Fan). Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 54, 1146-1172.  Omoregie, E.O., Niemann, H., Mastalerz, V., de Lange, G., Stadnitskaia, A., Mascle, J., Foucher, J.-P., Boetius, A. (2007). Microbial methane oxidation and sulfate reduction at cold seeps of the Nile Deep Sea Fan (Eastern Mediterranean Sea). Marine Geology (MEDIFLUX Special Issue; in review). Stadnitskaia, A., M.K. Ivanov, E.N. Poludetkina, R. Kreulen, T.C.E. van Weering (2008). Sources of hydrocarbon gases in mud volcanoes from the Sorokin Trough, NE Black Sea, based on molecular and carbon isotopic compositions. Marine and Petroleum Geology 25, 1040-1057. Stadnitskaia, A., M.K. Ivanov, J.S. Sinninghe Damsté (2008). Application of lipid biomarkers to detect sources of organic matter in mud volcano deposits and post-eruptional methanotrophic processes in the Gulf of Cadiz, NE Atlantic. Marine Geology 255, 1-14. Stadnitskaia, A., D. Nadezhkin, B. Abbas, V. Blinova, M.K. Ivanov, J. S. Sinninghe Damsté (2008). Carbonate formation by anaerobic oxidation of methane: evidence from lipid biomarker and fossil 16s rDNA. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72, 1824-1836. Omoregie, E.O., Mastalerz, V., de Lange, G., Straub, K.L., Kappler, A., Røy, H., Stadnitskaia, A., Foucher, J.-P., Boetius, A. 2008. Biogeochemistry and community composition of iron- and sulfur-precipitating microbial mats at the Chefren mud volcano (Nile Deep Sea Fan, Eastern Mediterranean). Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74, 3198-3215. Gontharet, S., Stadnitskaia, A., Bouloubassi, I., Pierre, C., J.S. Sinninghe Damsté. Palaeo methane-seepage history traced by biomarker patterns in a carbonate crust, Nile deep-sea fan (Eastern Mediterranean Sea). Marine Geology (MEDIFLUX Special Issue; in press). Bayon, G., L. Loncke, S. Dupré, J.-C. Caprais, E. Ducassou, S. Duperron, J. Etoubleau, J.-P. Foucher, Y. Fouquet, S. Gontharet, G.M. Henderson, C. Huguen, I. Klaucke, J. Mascle, S. Migeon, K. Olu-Le Roy, H. Ondréas, C. Pierre, M. Sibuet, A. Stadnitskaia, J. Woodside. Multi-disciplinary investigation of fluid seepage on an unstable margin: The case of the Central Nile deep sea fan. Marine Geology (MEDIFLUX Special Issue; in press). Huguen, C., Foucher, J.-P., Mascle, J., Ondréas, H., Thouement, M., Gontharet, S., Stadnitskaia, A., Pierre, C., Bayon, G., Loncke, L., Boetius, A., Bouloubassi, I., de Lange, G., Caprais, J.-C., Fouquet, Y., Woodside, J.M., Dupré, S., and the NAUTINIL Scientific Party. Menes caldera, a hygly active site of brine seepage in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: “in situ” observations from the NAUTINIL expedition (2003). Marine Geology (accepted).