Background

The pore space in sediments as well as fractures in magmatic or metamorphic rocks forms a giant ecosystems that spans around the entire globe. Despite its large size we still have very little knowledge about the microbes in this environment, their metabolic capabilities and their interaction with their geologic surrounding and the surface world.

Life in this so-called Deep Biosphere deviates from surface life in many aspects. Microbes have to adjust to the extreme nutrient limitation and other extreme chemical and physical conditions in these environments. Cell density in the deep biosphere is usually much lower than at the surface, moreover do the cells have a much lower metabolic rate. Such conditions make analyses of such samples so technically challenging. As many microbiological standard techniques are not sensitive enough, one of the key aspects of our work is the development of more sensitive analytical techniques.

Usually drilling is required to get access to uncontaminated samples from the Deep Biosphere. Additional to our own drilling operations that we carry out in collaboration with other groups from GFZ, we are also involved in projects of the two scientific drilling programs, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) and the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP).

Scientific key questions

• Which and how many microbes make up the microbial community in the Deep Biosphere and how did they adapt to the environmental conditions?
• Which metabolic processes occur in the Deep Biosphere and at what rates?
• What are the interactions between the Deep Biosphere and the surrounding Geosphere?

Study sites

• Lake Towuti, Sulawesi, Indonesia
• Eger Rift Area, Czech Republic
• Guaymas Basin, Mexico
• Eifel, Germany

Projects

• DFG Priority Programme ICDP (SPP 1006):  BioMetArchive
• DFG Priority Programme IODP (SPP 1006): Bushveld Drilling
• ERC Synergy Grant: Archean Park - Relics of Ancient Cellular Biochemistry in High-CO2 Subsurface 

Co-operation Partners (selection)

Prof Yohey Suzuki, Tokyo University, Japan

Prof James Russell, Brown University, USA

Prof Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, MARUM, Bremen, Germany 

Prof Ivan Berg, University of Münster

Prof Alexander Probst, University of Duisburg-Essen

Prof. Bo Barker Jørgensen, Arhus University, Denmark

Dr. Verena Heuer, MARUM, Bremen, Germany

Prof. William Orsi, Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität, Munich, Germany

Prof. Liane Benning, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Germany

Dr. Kai Mangelsdorf, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Germany