Project: Collaborative Research: Characterization of Microbial Transformations in Basement Fluids, from Genes to Geochemical Cycling

Acronym/Short Name:North Pond Microbes
Project Duration:2011-06 - 2015-05
Geolocation:North Pond, mid-Atlantic Ridge

Description

Description from NSF award abstract:
Current estimates suggest that the volume of ocean crust capable of sustaining life is comparable in magnitude to that of the oceans. To date, there is little understanding of the composition or functional capacity of microbial communities in the sub-seafloor, or their influence on the chemistry of the oceans and subsequent consequences for global biogeochemical cycles. This project focuses on understanding the relationship between microbial communities and fluid chemistry in young crustal fluids that are responsible for the transport of energy, nutrients, and organisms in the crust. Specifically, the PIs will couple microbial activity measurements, including autotrophic carbon, nitrogen and sulfur metabolisms as well as mineral oxide reduction, with quantitative assessments of functional gene expression and geochemical transformations in basement fluids. Through a comprehensive suite of in situ and shipboard analyses, this research will yield cross-disciplinary advances in our understanding of the microbial ecology and geochemistry of the sub-seafloor biosphere. The focus of the effort is at North Pond, an isolated sediment pond located on ridge flank oceanic crust 7-8 million years old on the western side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. North Pond is currently the target for drilling on IODP expedition 336, during which it will be instrumented with three sub-seafloor basement observatories.

The project will leverage this opportunity for targeted and distinct sampling at North Pond on two German-US research cruises to accomplish three main objectives:

1. to determine if different basement fluid horizons across North Pond host distinct microbial communities and chemical milieus and the degree to which they change over a two-year post-drilling period.

2. to quantify the extent of autotrophic metabolism via microbially-mediated transformations in carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur species in basement fluids at North Pond.

3. to determine the extent of suspended particulate mineral oxides in basement fluids at North Pond and to characterize their role as oxidants for fluid-hosted microbial communities.

Specific outcomes include quantitative assessments of microbial activity and gene expression as well as geochemical transformations. The program builds on the integrative research goals for North Pond and will provide important data for guiding the development of that and future deep biosphere research programs. Results will increase understanding of microbial life and chemistry in young oceanic crust as well as provide new insights into controls on the distribution and activity of marine microbial communities throughout the worlds oceans.

There are no data about microbial communities in ubiquitous cold, oceanic crust, the emphasis of the proposed work. This is an interdisciplinary project at the interface of microbial ecology, chemistry, and deep-sea oceanography with direct links to international and national research and educational organizations.


DatasetLatest Version DateCurrent State
Reconstructed genomes from North Pond, western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from 2012-20142019-12-02Final no updates expected
Chemistry and cell counts of formation fluids from North Pond, western flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, from 2012-20142019-12-02Final no updates expected
Pore water chemical concentration data and location from push cores collected by the ROV Jason II on dive J2-773 from cruise MSM37 on R/V Maria S. Merian from March to April 20142019-04-11Final no updates expected
The acetate and inorganic carbon uptake rates as determined via stable isotopic tracers from Maria S. Merian cruise MSM20-5 in 2012; data generated using the formation fluids recovered from CORKs installed at North Pond2016-02-03Final no updates expected
Dissolved organic carbon and total dissolved nitrogen from the formation fluids recovered from the CORKs installed at the North Pond; collected on Maria S. Merian cruise MSM20-5 in 2012 2015-12-30Final no updates expected
Particulate organic carbon from the formation fluids recovered from the CORKs installed at North Pond; collected on Maria S. Merian cruise MSM20-5 in 20122015-12-30Final no updates expected
Microbial cell counts derived from the formation fluids recovered from the CORKs installed at North Pond; collected on Maria S. Merian cruises MSM20-5 and MSM37 from 2012-2014 (North Pond Microbes project)2015-12-29Final no updates expected
Net oxygen consumption rates of the fluids recovered from the CORKs installed at North Pond; collected on Maria S. Merian cruise MSM37 in 2014 2015-12-29Final no updates expected
v6 16S rRNA from IODP boreholes, seawater, and drilling mud at North Pond collected from Maria S. Merian cruise MSM20-5 in 2012 (North Pond Microbes project)2015-09-28Final no updates expected
Total microbial cell densities and 16S rRNA abundance from North Pond from the Maria S. Merian cruise MSM20-5 in 2012 (North Pond Microbes project)2015-09-28Final no updates expected
North Pond Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (CORK) dissolved ion concentrations from samples collected using the Medium Volume Bag Sampler (MVBS) system during ROV Jason-II dives on Maria S. Merian in 2012-2014 (North Pond Microbes project)2015-09-02Preliminary and in progress
Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscopy raw images and spectra for aXis 2000 analysis software packages from the Maria S. Merian from 2012-2014 (North Pond Microbes project)2015-09-02Preliminary and in progress
North Pond CORKs dissolved oxygen concentrations collected during ROV Jason-II dives from Maria S. Merian cruises MSM20-5 and MSM37 from 2012-2014 (North Pond Microbes project)2015-04-06

People

Lead Principal Investigator: Julie Huber
Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL)

Principal Investigator: Peter Girguis
Harvard University

Principal Investigator: Brian Glazer
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (SOEST)

Contact: Julie Huber
Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL)


Programs

Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations [C-DEBI]

International Ocean Discovery Program [IODP]


Data Management Plan

DMP_Huber_Girguis_Glazer_OCE1061827_1061934_1062006.pdf (73.64 KB)
02/09/2025