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Article Dans Une Revue Journal of Geophysical Research : Solid Earth Année : 2022

Key signatures of magnetofossils elucidated by mutant magnetotactic bacteria and micromagnetic calculations

Résumé

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) produce single-stranded or multi-stranded chains of magnetic nanoparticles that contribute to the magnetization of sediments and rocks. Their magnetic fingerprint can be detected in ancient geological samples and serve as a unique biosignature of microbial life. However, some fossilized assemblages bear contradictory signatures pointing to magnetic components that have distinct origin(s). Here, using micromagnetic simulations and mutant MTB producing looped magnetosome chains, we demonstrate that the observed magnetofossil fingerprints are produced by a mixture of single-stranded and multi-stranded chains, and that diagenetically induced chain collapse, if occurring, must preserve the strong uniaxial anisotropy of native chains. This anisotropy is the key factor for distinguishing magnetofossils from other populations of natural magnetite particles, including those with similar individual crystal characteristics. Furthermore, the detailed properties of magnetofossil signatures depend on the proportion of equant and elongated magnetosomes, as well as on the relative abundances of single-stranded and multi-stranded chains. This work has important paleoclimatic, paleontological, and phylogenetic implications, as it provides reference data to differentiate distinct MTB lineages according to their chain and magnetosome morphologies, which will enable the tracking of the evolution of some of the most ancient biomineralizing organisms in a time-resolved manner. It also enables a more accurate discrimination of different sources of magnetite particles, which is pivotal for gaining better environmental and relative paleointensity reconstructions from sedimentary records.
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Dates et versions

hal-03943167 , version 1 (17-01-2023)

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Matthieu Amor, Juan Wan, Ramon Egli, Julie Carlut, Christophe Gatel, et al.. Key signatures of magnetofossils elucidated by mutant magnetotactic bacteria and micromagnetic calculations. Journal of Geophysical Research : Solid Earth, 2022, 127, pp.e2021JB023239. ⟨10.1029/2021JB023239⟩. ⟨hal-03943167⟩
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