Zodletone Mountain
Description
Zodletone Mountain rises approximately 500 meters (or 1640 feet) above sea level and 75 meters (or 229 feet) above the surrounding terrain. At its base, the mountain is approximately 1.9 kilometers (or 1.18 miles) wide. Located in the Anadarko Basin, the land surrounding Zodletone Mountain is predominantly flat. As a result, the mountain is a prominent feature in the landscape. It is nearly entirely encircled by grassland and several lakes are situated in the region. Zodletone Mountain is the northernmost link of the Slick Hills Range. The highest point in the area is Bally Mountain, which stands at 1866.8 feet above sea level and is located 2.73 miles south of Mount Zodletone. The population density of Zodletone Mountain is very low, with only about 2 inhabitants per square kilometer (247.105 acres). The ZIP Code delivery area is OK 73062. The nearest major city, Carnegie, is located 8.88 miles northeast of Zodletone Mountain.
Climate
The climate in this region is humid and subtropical, with an average temperature of 18°C/64.4°F. The hottest month is July, with 32°C/89.6°F average, while the coldest is January, with an average temperature of 2°C/35.6°F. The average annual rainfall is 783 millimeters/30.826 inches, with the wettest month being April, with 104 millimeters/4.094 inches of rain, and the driest being January, with only 25 millimeters/0.984-inch.
Directions
Follow Oklahoma 58 south of Carnegie for 6.83 miles. Then, turn west on a dirt road for 2.98 miles and continue south for about half a mile until you reach a white two-story farmhouse to obtain a visitor's permit (as of 1988).
Zodletone Spring
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Mbio.00016-22-sf001.jpg/220px-Mbio.00016-22-sf001.jpg)
Located on the northern slope of Mount Zodletone, the Zodletone Spring is an artesian spring that features a National Science Foundation (NSF) microbial observatory. First described by Havens in 1983, the spring is a sulfide-rich and strictly anaerobic hydrocarbon seep that operates at low temperatures. The spring discharges approximately 2.11 gallons per minute over a distance of about 22 yards, where the water flows north over Stinking Creek into nearby Saddle Mountain Creek. The spring is a closed area of approximately 1 square meter filled with biomass and soft sediments to a depth of at least 6 inches. The spring water has a sulfide content of 8–10 mmol/L and contains 1.0–1.5 mmol of zero valent sulfur. The salinity, measured by the concentration of sodium chloride, is around 0.7–1.0%, which is significantly less than seawater (approximately 3.5%). These measurements, in the mats formed by the microbes, increase to 2–5%, and in the soil they can reach up to 25–30% at a depth of 2 in and 12 in, respectively. The hydrocarbons detected in high concentrations are short-chain alkanes, such as methane, ethane, and propane.
Since 2001, a team of scientists from the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) has been researching the microbial community (microbiome) at the Zodletone spring.
This spring is an intriguing research site for geologists and environmental microbiologists due to a variety of factors. The high sulfide and methane content of the spring water creates a diverse microbial mat environment along its course down the mountain, displaying unique geochemical and microbial processes.
A list of the minerals encountered there can be found at mindat.org. This environment shares many similarities with the conditions that existed on Earth almost two billion years ago when there was no oxygen in the atmosphere, and methane was abundant. Frequent sulfur reactions were likely to have occurred. Therefore, the spring and spring stream ecosystem provides an opportunity to study the biology and geochemistry of early Earth. Therefore, the investigations focus on the role of microorganisms, particularly bacteria and archaea, in hydrocarbon (petroleum) and sulfur metabolism, as well as micro-eukaryotes (eukaryotic microbes such as protists and microfungi).
Bacteria
Both known and new groups of bacteria were identified in the sample. These groups include Chlorobia (green sulfur bacteria), Chloroflexi (green non-sulfur bacteria), Planctomycetes (with isolate Zi62), Cyanobacteria (specifically order Oscillatoria), Saccharibacteria (formerly known as TM7, here with extremely high diversity), Parcubacteria (also known as OD1, with isolate ZFos45e05), the Microgenomates group (OP11), and Absconditabacteria (SR1). In addition, new bacterial phyla, Candidate division CSSED10-310 (provisional name), with its species Candidate division CSSED10-310 bacterium, and Ca. Krumholzibacteriota, with its species Ca. K. zodletonense, were found in the spring.
Archaea
Among the Archaea, Crenarchaeota were found in addition to an unexpected occurrence of Halobacteria (Euryarchaeota) in several places in spring, despite the fact that the water salinity is too low for them (although not in the mats and soil, as seen above). The following were identified:
- the genera Haloferax (with species H. sulfurifontis) and Halogranum from the order Haloferacales;
- the genera Haladaptatus (with species H. paucihalophilus) and Halosarcina from the order Halobacteriales.
Another archaeal group found at Zodleton Spring is that of the Asgard archaea, including:
- AMARA-1 sp016933055 (GTDB) with Ca. Lokiarchaeota archaeon isolate Zod_Metabat.1044 (NCBI);
- Ca. Thorarchaeota archaeon isolate Zod_maxbin.0292; MAG: Candidatus Krumholzibacterium zodletonense isolate 171, whole genome shotgun sequencing project;
- Ca. Heimdallarchaeota archaeon isolate Zod_Metabat.460.
Asgard archaea, particularly the Heimdall archaea, are considered potential candidates for illustrating the origin in the evolution of complex cellular organisms, or eukaryotes, in a process known as eukaryogenesis.
Protists and microfungi
The study unequivocally identified several protist groups, such as Cercozoa, Alveolata, and Stramenopile, among the microbial eukaryotes. The majority of the stramenopiles were classified as either belonging to the genus Cafeteria (order Bicosoecida) or the order Labyrinthulida (mucilages), despite their previous association with marine habitats.
The majority of the fungal sequences observed belong to ascomycete yeasts of the Saccharomycetales order or are closely related to basidiomycete yeasts from the Tremellales order. In addition, they found sequences from one of the Ustilaginomycetes (fire fungi) and a new group of fungi provisionally designated as LKM (also known as Zeuk1), named after the strain LKM11 from Lac Pavin (France).
Viruses
As of mid-January 2023, research on the Viruses in the Zodletone Spring ecosystem is still limited. However, the RNA sequence EMS013, which possibly belongs to the genus Cystovirus, along with two other examples, suggest the presence of RNA bacteriophages. The presence of protists from the genus ’’Cafeteria’’ suggests the possibility of the presence of accompanying viruses, such as the DNA giant virus Cafeteria roenbergensis virus’’ (CroV).
Bibliography
- Donovan, R. N.; Younger, P.; Ditzell, C. (1988), "Some aspects of the geology of Zodletone Mountain, southwestern Oklahoma", Centennial Field Guide Volume 4: South-Central Section of the Geological Society of America, vol. 4, Geological Society of America, pp. 99–102, doi:10.1130/0-8137-5404-6.99, ISBN 0-8137-5404-6, retrieved 2024-02-28.
- Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Senko, John M.; Najar, Fares Z.; Kenton, Stephen M.; Roe, Bruce A.; Dewers, Thomas A.; Spear, John R.; Krumholz, Lee R. (September 2003). "Bacterial Diversity and Sulfur Cycling in a Mesophilic Sulfide-Rich Spring". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 69 (9): 5609–5621. doi:10.1128/AEM.69.9.5609-5621.2003.
- Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Youssef, Noha H.; Luo, Qingwei; Najar, Fares Z.; Roe, Bruce A.; Sisk, Tracy M.; Bühring, Solveig I.; Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe; Krumholz, Lee R. (August 2007). "Phylogenetic and Metabolic Diversity of Planctomycetes from Anaerobic, Sulfide- and Sulfur-Rich Zodletone Spring, Oklahoma". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 73 (15): 4707–4716. doi:10.1128/AEM.00591-07.
- Hahn, C. Ryan; Farag, Ibrahim F.; Murphy, Chelsea L.; Podar, Mircea; Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Youssef, Noha H. (2022-04-26). Sousa, Filipa L.; Schleper, Christa M. (eds.). "Microbial Diversity and Sulfur Cycling in an Early Earth Analogue: From Ancient Novelty to Modern Commonality". mBio. 13 (2). doi:10.1128/mbio.00016-22.
- Krishnamurthy, Siddharth R.; Janowski, Andrew B.; Zhao, Guoyan; Barouch, Dan; Wang, David (24 March 2016). "Hyperexpansion of RNA Bacteriophage Diversity". PLOS Biology. 14 (3): e1002409. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002409.
- Luo, Qingwei; Krumholz, Lee R.; Najar, Fares Z.; Peacock, Aaron D.; Roe, Bruce A.; White, David C.; Elshahed, Mostafa S. (October 2005). "Diversity of the Microeukaryotic Community in Sulfide-Rich Zodletone Spring (Oklahoma)". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 71 (10): 6175–6184. doi:10.1128/AEM.71.10.6175-6184.2005. ISSN 0099-2240.
- Lynch, Erin A.; Langille, Morgan G. I.; Darling, Aaron; Wilbanks, Elizabeth G.; Haltiner, Caitlin; Shao, Katie S. Y.; Starr, Michael O.; Teiling, Clotilde; Harkins, Timothy T.; Edwards, Robert A.; Eisen, Jonathan A.; Facciotti, Marc T. (2012-07-24). "Sequencing of Seven Haloarchaeal Genomes Reveals Patterns of Genomic Flux". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e41389. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041389. ISSN 1932-6203.
- Savage, Kristen N.; Krumholz, Lee R.; Gieg, Lisa M.; Parisi, Victoria A.; Suflita, Joseph M.; Allen, Jon; Philp, R. Paul; Elshahed, Mostafa S. (2010-03-19). "Biodegradation of low-molecular-weight alkanes under mesophilic, sulfate-reducing conditions: metabolic intermediates and community patterns: n-Propane and n-pentane degradation by sulfate reducers". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 72 (3): 485–495. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00866.x.
- Spain, Anne M.; Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Najar, Fares Z.; Krumholz, Lee R. (2015-09-22). "Metatranscriptomic analysis of a high-sulfide aquatic spring reveals insights into sulfur cycling and unexpected aerobic metabolism". PeerJ. 3: e1259. doi:10.7717/peerj.1259. ISSN 2167-8359.
- Yadav, Archana; Hahn, C. Ryan; S. Elshahed, Mostafa; H. Youssefa, Noha (1 July 2021). "Five Metagenome-Assembled Genomes of the Rare Phylum CSSED10-310 from Zodletone Spring (Oklahoma, USA)". Microbiology Resource Announcement. 10 (26).
Notes
- ^ Topographic determination from DEM 3" data from Viewfinder Panoramas.
- ^ The largest extension of the contour around the topographical highlighting.
- ^ Determined from the intersection of all elevation data(DEM 3") of Viewfinder panoramas within a 10-kilometer radius.
- ^ According to GeoNames within a radius of 20 kilometers, compared to the average density of lakes on Earth.
- ^ The point that is highest above the local horizon according to the elevation data from GeoNames.
References
- ^ "Zodleton Mountain".
- ^ "A Microbial Observatory at Zodleton Springs". Archived from the original on 2022-12-25.
- ^ "Zodletone Mountain". MountainZone. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ "Zodleton Mountain Oklahoma Map".
- ^ Donovan, R. N.; Younger, P.; Ditzell, C. (1988), "Some aspects of the geology of Zodletone Mountain, southwestern Oklahoma", Centennial Field Guide Volume 4: South-Central Section of the Geological Society of America, vol. 4, Geological Society of America, pp. 99–102, doi:10.1130/0-8137-5404-6.99, ISBN 0-8137-5404-6, retrieved 2024-02-28
- ^ Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Senko, John M.; Najar, Fares Z.; Kenton, Stephen M.; Roe, Bruce A.; Dewers, Thomas A.; Spear, John R.; Krumholz, Lee R. (September 2003). "Bacterial Diversity and Sulfur Cycling in a Mesophilic Sulfide-Rich Spring". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 69 (9): 5609–5621. Bibcode:2003ApEnM..69.5609E. doi:10.1128/AEM.69.9.5609-5621.2003. ISSN 0099-2240. PMC 194924. PMID 12957951.
- ^ "NASA Earth Observations: Land Cover Classification". Archived from the original on 2016-02-28.
- ^ "NASA Earth Observations: Population Density". Archived from the original on 2016-02-09.
- ^ "Zodletone Mountain (in Kiowa County, OK)". oklahoma.hometownlocator.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007-10-11). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1607-7938.
- ^ "Zodletone spring, Kiowa County, Oklahoma, USA".
- ^ "NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index". Archived from the original on 2016-02-03.
- ^ "NASA Earth Observations: Rainfall (1 month – TRMM)". Archived from the original on 2016-04-12.
- ^ "MAG: Candidatus Lokiarchaeota archaeon isolate Zod_Metabat.1044, whole genome shotgun sequencing project". 24 February 2021.
- ^ Kristen N. Savage, Lee R. Krumholz, Mostafa S. Elshahed, Aharon Oren: Isolation and characterization of novel extreme halophilic archaea from a low-salt, high-sulfide spring. Presented at the National Science Foundation Microbial Observatories Workshop. Oral Presentation. Washington, D.C., 2007.
- ^ Luo, Qingwei; Krumholz, Lee R.; Najar, Fares Z.; Peacock, Aaron D.; Roe, Bruce A.; White, David C.; Elshahed, Mostafa S. (October 2005). "Diversity of the Microeukaryotic Community in Sulfide-Rich Zodletone Spring (Oklahoma)". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 71 (10): 6175–6184. Bibcode:2005ApEnM..71.6175L. doi:10.1128/AEM.71.10.6175-6184.2005. ISSN 0099-2240. PMC 1265994. PMID 16204536.
- ^ Mostafa S. Elshahed, Lee R. Krumholz, Stephan Sievert, Kristen N. Savage, Paul Philp: Zodletone Spring Microbial Observatory: Phylogenetic Diversity and Metabolic Capabilities of Novel Microorganisms In Sulfide-Saturated Habitats. Powerpoint-Präsentation; National Science Foundation Microbial Observatories Workshop, Washington, D.C., 2007.
- ^ Savage, Kristen N.; Krumholz, Lee R.; Gieg, Lisa M.; Parisi, Victoria A.; Suflita, Joseph M.; Allen, Jon; Philp, R. Paul; Elshahed, Mostafa S. (2010-03-19). "Biodegradation of low-molecular-weight alkanes under mesophilic, sulfate-reducing conditions: metabolic intermediates and community patterns: n-Propane and n-pentane degradation by sulfate reducers". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 72 (3): 485–495. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.00866.x. PMID 20402777.
- ^ Luo, Qingwei; Z. Najar, Fares; A. Roe, Bruce; R. Krumholz, Lee. "Culture independent survey of the microeukaryotic community in a mesophilic sulfide and sulfur-rich spring". 104th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. New Orleans, LA, 2004. Archived from the original on 2023-01-22.
- ^ N. Savage, Kristen; S. Elshahed, Mostafa; R. Krumholz, Lee. "A novel halophilic archaeon from a low salt high sulfide spring – Halophilic Archaea at Zodletone Spring". Texas and Missouri valley branches combined fall 2005 meeting, Denton, TX, 2005. Archived from the original on 2023-01-20.
- ^ Bachman, Emma E.; Hullaster, Desiree; Krumholz, Lee R.; Elwood Madden, Andrew S. (6 November 2018). "Biotic and Abiotic Mineralogical Signatures Induced by Euxinic Methane-Rich Brine Spring Discharge". GSA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA – 2018. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. doi:10.1130/abs/2018AM-324175.
- ^ Spain, Anne M.; Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Najar, Fares Z.; Krumholz, Lee R. (2015-09-22). "Metatranscriptomic analysis of a high-sulfide aquatic spring reveals insights into sulfur cycling and unexpected aerobic metabolism". PeerJ. 3: e1259. doi:10.7717/peerj.1259. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 4582958. PMID 26417542.
- ^ Hahn, C. Ryan; Farag, Ibrahim F.; Murphy, Chelsea L.; Podar, Mircea; Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Youssef, Noha H. (2022-04-26). Sousa, Filipa L.; Schleper, Christa M. (eds.). "Microbial Diversity and Sulfur Cycling in an Early Earth Analogue: From Ancient Novelty to Modern Commonality". mBio. 13 (2): e0001622. doi:10.1128/mbio.00016-22. ISSN 2150-7511. PMC 9040765. PMID 35258328.
- ^ taxonomy. "Taxonomy browser (planctomycete Zi62)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ Elshahed, Mostafa S.; Youssef, Noha H.; Luo, Qingwei; Najar, Fares Z.; Roe, Bruce A.; Sisk, Tracy M.; Bühring, Solveig I.; Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe; Krumholz, Lee R. (August 2007). "Phylogenetic and Metabolic Diversity of Planctomycetes from Anaerobic, Sulfide- and Sulfur-Rich Zodletone Spring, Oklahoma". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 73 (15): 4707–4716. Bibcode:2007ApEnM..73.4707E. doi:10.1128/AEM.00591-07. ISSN 0099-2240. PMC 1951033. PMID 17545322.
- ^ "TM6 bacterium Zodletone – Nucleotide – NCBI". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ taxonomy. "Taxonomy browser (Parcubacteria group)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Uncultured bacterium clone ZFos45e05 16S ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence". 7 November 2005.
- ^ "Taxonomy browser (Microgenomates group)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Absconditta". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ^ Yadav, Archana; Hahn, C. Ryan; S. Elshahed, Mostafa; H. Youssefa, Noha (1 July 2021). "Five Metagenome-Assembled Genomes of the Rare Phylum CSSED10-310 from Zodletone Spring (Oklahoma, USA)". Microbiology Resource Announcement. 10 (26). doi:10.1128/mra.00414-21. PMC 8248873. PMID 34197190.
- ^ "MAG: candidate division CSSED10-310 bacterium isolate Zod_Metabat.1153, whole genome shotgun sequencing project". 24 February 2021.
- ^ "MAG: Candidatus Krumholzibacterium zodletonense isolate 171, whole genome shotgun sequencing project". 10 August 2018.
- ^ Reimer, L.C.; Sarda Carbasse, J.; Koblitz, J.; Podstawka, A.; Overmann, J. (2023). "Strain-linked information about bacterial and archaeal biodiversity". Haloferax sulfurifontis. doi:10.13145/bacdive5936.20230509.8.1.
- ^ Lynch, Erin A.; Langille, Morgan G. I.; Darling, Aaron; Wilbanks, Elizabeth G.; Haltiner, Caitlin; Shao, Katie S. Y.; Starr, Michael O.; Teiling, Clotilde; Harkins, Timothy T.; Edwards, Robert A.; Eisen, Jonathan A.; Facciotti, Marc T. (2012-07-24). "Sequencing of Seven Haloarchaeal Genomes Reveals Patterns of Genomic Flux". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e41389. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...741389L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041389. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3404096. PMID 22848480.
- ^ "Taxonomy browser (Halogranum)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ taxonomy. "Taxonomy browser (Haladaptatus)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Species: Haladaptatus paucihalophilus". lpsn.dsmz.de. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "Genus: Halosarcina". lpsn.dsmz.de. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "GTDB – Loading..." gtdb.ecogenomic.org. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ^ "MAG: Candidatus Thorarchaeota archaeon isolate Zod_maxbin.0292, whole genome shotgun sequencing project". 24 February 2021.
- ^ "MAG: Candidatus Heimdallarchaeota archaeon isolate Zod_Metabat.460, whole genome shotgun sequencing project". 24 February 2021.
- ^ taxonomy. "Taxonomy browser (fungal sp. LKM11)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ Krishnamurthy, Siddharth R.; Janowski, Andrew B.; Zhao, Guoyan; Barouch, Dan; Wang, David (24 March 2016). "Hyperexpansion of RNA Bacteriophage Diversity". PLOS Biology. 14 (3): e1002409. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002409. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 4807089. PMID 27010970.
External links
- Zodletone Mountain (Kiowa) Map, Weather and Photos. Getamap.net
- Zodletone Mountain Panorama. PeakVisor
- National Science Foundation
- State of Oklahoma
- Kiowa County
- University of OklahomaMicrobial Ecology and Environmental Genomics Laboratory
- Oklahoma State University
- Mostafa Elshahed, Michael Morrison: Microbial Ecology and Environmental Genomics Laboratory.
- Suzanne Coveley, Mostafa S. Elshahed, Noha H. Youssef: Response of the rare biosphere to environmental stressors in a highly diverse ecosystem (Zodletone spring, OK, USA). In: PeerJ, Band 3, e1182, 20. August 2015; doi:10.7717/peerj.1182.
- GeoNames