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Alkaline lakes like the hydrothermally affected lake Specchio di Venere (Pantelleria Island, Central Mediterranean) are typical geological settings harbouring calcified microbial mats. The present work is focused on the discrimination between biotic and abiotic processes driving carbonate precipitation in this lake, using hydrochemical, mineralogical and isotopic data. Hydrochemical analyses demonstrate that the lake is nearly 10−fold supersaturated with regard to aragonite and seasonally reaches hydromagnesite supersaturation. Microscopic observations depict organosedimentary laminated structures consisting of microbial communities and aragonitic precipitates, which are rather disseminated in pores than directly linked to microorganisms. Oxygen isotopic data indicate that authigenic carbonate crystallisation from evaporating water is the dominant precipitation process, further suggested by the absence of textural evidence of diagenetic processes. Conversely, the observed δ13C values reflect an influence of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on carbon fractionation during the precipitation process, due to the selective sequestration of 12C in the biomass. The above considerations suggest that at lake Specchio di Venere the carbonate precipitation is mainly of inorganic nature, but a minor role played by biologically influenced processes in microbial mats is not excluded.

Venere Lake, in the Pantelleria Island thermal system (Central Mediterranean Sea) consists of a mix of seawater and hydrothermal volcanic fluids containing high levels of dissolved SiO 2 . Close to the lake's thermal springs, siliceous stromatolites are deposed under high bacterial activity conditions whereas roughly interlaminated Ca-carbonates and microbial mats are widely scattered in the lake. The dissolved REE speciation in lake waters is dominated by [REE(CO 3 ) 2 ] − , [REE(CO 3 )] + and [REE(H 3 SiO 4 )] 2 + complexes. On the contrary the most abundant Zr and Hf species are hydroxyl- and fluoride-complexes. The behavior of REE Zr and Hf in the Venere lake waters is controlled by precipitation of amorphous silica, carbonates and bacterial activity. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns in stromatolites are characterized by positive La anomalies, superchondritic Y/Ho ratios and negative Eu anomalies. The Eu depletion is also found in microbial mats where is associated to a “chondritic” Y/Ho signature. Zr and Hf differently behave in dissolved phase and in newly-formed siliceous and carbonatic material: Hf reacts easily into amorphous silica surfaces whereas Zr is preferentially partitioned onto phosphate binding sites on microbial cell surfaces similar to the observed behavior of heavy REE (HREE). We suggest that the Zr-Hf relationship reflect the interface processes between mineral phases and bacterial membranes or compounds produced by bacterial activity.

Rare earth elements (REE) were investigated in siliceous stromatolites forming in the Specchio di Venere Lake on Pantelleria Island. Chondrite-normalised patterns show significant La enrichments and Eu depletions suggesting that fluids involved in stromatolite growth experienced strong rock-water interactions under hydrothermal conditions. At the same time, enrichments in heavy REE (HREE) with respect to intermediate REE (MREE) suggest that hydrothermal fluids interacted with microbial mats during deposition of the stromatolites. The above-mentioned features suggest that rock-water interactions and bacterial activity were simultaneously recorded in the REE patterns of stromatolites, and can be discriminated in terms of amplitudes of the La anomaly, and the HREE/MREE ratio.

A mud volcano field was recently discovered within the Malta Plateau in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea). Box-core sediments and associated authigenic carbonates have been collected in water depths of 140–170 m from two distinctive sectors of the area, and analyzed for major, trace and rare earth elements, stable isotopes, and mineralogy. Relative homogeneity in the mineralogy and geochemistry of bulk sediments, and 210Pb activity distributions, argue against an active mud ejection activity. In the Malta Plateau western sector, the sediments show high concentrations of Fe, As, Sb, and Mo, exceeding the background values estimated for the Strait of Sicily. Active fluid seepage in this area is thought to be responsible for these enrichments and for the formation of authigenic carbonate crusts. Evidence of bacterial involvement in carbonate (mainly aragonite) formation is recorded in the authigenic crusts, which contain flat and spiralled filaments resembling Beggiatoa-like sulphide oxidising bacteria and biofilm-like remains which occur inside the interspaces. Carbonate crusts consistently show extremely negative δ13C values (down to − 49‰) that suggest contribution of carbon originating from anaerobic methane oxidation. Heavy oxygen isotopic compositions of the authigenic carbonates (2−3‰ higher than those in box-core sediments) are interpreted as due to precipitation from fluids enriched in 18O due to seepage of deep, isotopically-heavy, relict Messinian brines.