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- Hinrichs Lab - MARUM - Fellow M.Bowles
Hinrichs Lab - MARUM - Fellow M.Bowles
MARUM - Fellowship: Dr. Marshall Bowles
| Duration: | August 2011 - June 2013 |
| Funding: | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) DFG-Research Center/Excellence Cluster "The Ocean in the Earth System" (MARUM) |
| Principal Investigator(s): | Marshall Bowles |
| Involved scientists in the Hinrichs Lab: | Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Frauke Schmidt, Verena Heuer |
| Partners: |
Abstract
The research focus of this MARUM fellowship lies in developing a process-based understanding of prokaryotic activity in deep subsurface and model sediments. Specifically this project will attempt to define pathways to organic carbon breakdown in deep sediments, and simultaneously discern the importance of methane in these processes. The novelty of the approach of this project is that incubations will be carried out at elevated pressure and realistic in situ methane concentrations. The purpose of this quasi in situ sample treatment is to provide realistic constraints on prokaryotic physiology (pressure) and the thermodynamics of reactions (methane). Organic carbon transformations will be defined at high specificity with a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR-MS), while products such as volatile fatty acids, methylated amines, and alcohols will be monitored. Stable isotopic tracers will then be used to verify the fate of organic carbon break down products, whether it CO2 or CH4. In addition characteristic lipids of active organisms will be defined using stable isotopic tracers.
The research focus of this MARUM fellowship lies in developing a process-based understanding of prokaryotic activity in deep subsurface and model sediments. Specifically this project will attempt to define pathways to organic carbon breakdown in deep sediments, and simultaneously discern the importance of methane in these processes. The novelty of the approach of this project is that incubations will be carried out at elevated pressure and realistic in situ methane concentrations. The purpose of this quasi in situ sample treatment is to provide realistic constraints on prokaryotic physiology (pressure) and the thermodynamics of reactions (methane). Organic carbon transformations will be defined at high specificity with a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR-MS), while products such as volatile fatty acids, methylated amines, and alcohols will be monitored. Stable isotopic tracers will then be used to verify the fate of organic carbon break down products, whether it CO2 or CH4. In addition characteristic lipids of active organisms will be defined using stable isotopic tracers.