EAGER Collaborative Research: The Basalt-Hosted Biosphere Observatory at North Pond, Advanced Instrumentation for Transformative Science

EAGER 合作研究：位于北池的玄武岩生物圈观测站，用于变革性科学的先进仪器

• 批准号: 0946381
• 负责人: James Cowen
• 金额: $ 14.77万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-10-01 至 2010-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0946381&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Collaborative; Research; Basalt; Hosted

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The immediate goals of this project are to acquire and build two instrument packages that will be interfaced with IODP borehole observatories, known as CORKs, as part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Microbiological Experiments (MARME) program. This international program utilizes novel interdisciplinary approaches to elucidate the linkages and rates of exchange between the hydrological, geochemical and microbiological components of the oceanic subsurface. The instrument packages are essential for achieving the over-arching goals of MARME to determine the origin and nature of microbial communities in situ within basaltic basement of 7-8Ma age below an isolated sediment "pond" on the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 22N, known as North Pond. The microbial communities of North Pond will be characterized in the context of their hydrogeochemical environment. This site was chosen because 1) the basaltic basement is suitably young ( 10 Ma) to harbor active microorganisms, 2) the sediment cover over the basement rock is sufficiently deep to permit good penetration of the drill bit, 3) the site has been drilled several times before during DSDP and ODP legs, thus information exists regarding the hydrology and geochemistry of the system. This project feeds into a much larger multi-disciplinary study of the deep biosphere within crystalline rocks that addresses important questions such as 1) nature of microbial communities in young ridge flanks? 2) mechanisms of microbial growth in such environments? 3) What is the role of microbes in mineral weathering under oxidizing and reducing conditions? 4) source of inoculum for this bacterial community? 5) How microbial community composition and physiology is affected by the subseafloor hydrogeology? Questions as these are most effectively addressed through the use of long term subseafloor observatories, which permit in situ fluid, thermal, and chemical conditions to re-establish after the initial disturbance from drilling. This project is one part of a much larger research effort that is divided into three major phases, including a site survey as the first phase, which was completed in January, 2009. The drilling expedition will be the second phase, during which 3 sealed borehole observatories will be installed as part of an IODP-sponsored cruise (IODP 677 Proposal, Full). This project will directly support the third phase, which is to deploy and recover seafloor instrumental packages to be interfaced with the CORKs that will 1) measure fluid flow in the system by monitoring formation fluid pressures and temperatures, and 2) deploy a GeoMICROBE Sled for collecting fluid samples from specified depth horizons within the CORKs for microbiological and geochemical analyses over 1 ? 5 year time scales. The pressure and temperature measurements provide the basic constraints of the in situ hydrological and thermal conditions from which all of the in situ microbiological and modeling experiments are designed. Broader Impacts: The MARME project and associated IODP drilling would be the largest coordinated investigation of the deep marine biosphere since IODP leg 201, which focused on marine sediments. This project will utilize novel and multidisciplinary approaches that will significantly advance our understanding of the deep marine biosphere in the basement rocks of the Mid Atlantic Ridge. Relative to marine sediments, the basaltic basement poses more challenges for obtaining quality samples for microbiological analysis, and the use of CORK observatories for such studies is essential to move this discipline forward. As such, this project meets many of the primary scientific objectives of the IODP. The foundation laid by this project will provide the necessary infrastructure and momentum for future observatory-based investigations of the deep biosphere. It will support numerous undergraduate and graduate research projects, and foster collaborative research and educational exchange across three continents, Asia, North America and Europe.

该奖项根据 2009 年《美国复苏和再投资法案》（公法 111-5）提供资金。该项目的近期目标是获取并建造两个仪器包，这些仪器包将与 IODP 钻孔观测站（称为 CORK）连接，作为大西洋中脊微生物实验 (MARME) 计划的一部分。该国际计划利用新颖的跨学科方法来阐明海洋地下水文、地球化学和微生物成分之间的联系和交换率。这些仪器包对于实现 MARME 的总体目标至关重要，即确定大西洋中脊西侧孤立沉积物“池塘”下方 7-8Ma 年龄玄武岩基底内微生物群落的起源和性质北时22时，名北池。北池塘的微生物群落将在其水文地球化学环境的背景下进行表征。选择该地点的原因是：1) 玄武岩基底相当年轻（10 Ma），可以容纳活性微生物，2) 基底岩石上的沉积物覆盖足够深，可以让钻头良好穿透，3) 该地点已被钻探DSDP 和 ODP 阶段之前曾多次出现过，因此存在有关系统水文和地球化学的信息。该项目为结晶岩内深层生物圈进行了更大规模的多学科研究，解决了以下重要问题：1）年轻山脊侧翼微生物群落的性质？ 2）微生物在此类环境中生长的机制？ 3）氧化和还原条件下微生物在矿物风化中的作用是什么？ 4）该细菌群落的接种源？ 5）海底水文地质如何影响微生物群落组成和生理？通过使用长期海底观测站可以最有效地解决这些问题，这些观测站允许在钻井产生的最初干扰后重新建立原位流体、热和化学条件。该项目是一项规模更大的研究工作的一部分，该研究工作分为三个主要阶段，其中第一阶段进行现场勘察，于 2009 年 1 月完成。第二阶段将进行钻探，期间将进行 3 个密封钻孔天文台将作为 IODP 赞助的巡航的一部分安装（IODP 677 提案，完整）。该项目将直接支持第三阶段，即部署和回收与 CORK 接口的海底仪器包，1）通过监测地层流体压力和温度来测量系统中的流体流量，2）部署 GeoMICROBE Sled从软木塞内的指定深度层收集流体样本，用于微生物和地球化学分析超过 1 ？ 5年的时间尺度。压力和温度测量提供了原位水文和热条件的基本约束，所有原位微生物和建模实验都是根据这些条件设计的。更广泛的影响：MARME 项目和相关的 IODP 钻探将是自 IODP 第 201 阶段（重点关注海洋沉积物）以来最大的深海生物圈协调调查。该项目将利用新颖的多学科方法，极大地增进我们对大西洋中脊基岩深层海洋生物圈的了解。相对于海洋沉积物，玄武岩基底对于获取用于微生物分析的优质样品提出了更多挑战，而使用 CORK 观测站进行此类研究对于推动该学科的发展至关重要。因此，该项目满足了 IODP 的许多主要科学目标。该项目奠定的基础将为未来基于观测站的深层生物圈调查提供必要的基础设施和动力。它将支持众多本科生和研究生研究项目，并促进亚洲、北美和欧洲三大洲的合作研究和教育交流。