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- Hinrichs Lab - Shimokita Coalbed
Hinrichs Lab - Shimokita Coalbed
Molecular-isotopic studies of microbial processes and organic matter in the subseafloor coalbed biosphere of Shimokita (IODP Exp. 337)
| Duration: | July 2012 - June 2015 |
| Funding: | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Schwerpunktprogramm 527 "Integrated Ocean Drilling Program/Ocean Drilling Program (IODP/ODP)" (Project HI 616/16-1 and HI 616/16-2) |
| Principal Investigator(s): | Kai-Uwe Hinrichs |
| Involved scientists in the Hinrichs Lab: | Verena Heuer, Marshall Bowles, Martin Könneke |
| Partners: | Boris Koch (Dept. of Ecological Chemistry, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany), Fumio Inagaki and Yuki Morono (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, Kochi, Japan) |
The expedition
Abstract
IODP Exp. 337 was the first scientific ocean drilling initiative to core and sample a subseafloor hydrocarbon system using riser-drilling technology. Hole C0020A was drilled at a water depth of 1180 m and reached a total sediment depth of 2466 m. It is currently the deepest hole that was drilled by scientific ocean drilling. The expedition seeks to explore the microbial ecosystem and microbial processes associated with a deeply buried coalbed situated ~2 km below the seafloor off Japan as well as to detect and examine the signatures of the deepest microbial communities ever accessed by scientific drilling. We investigate the diverse relationships between microorganisms and organic matter in the hydrocarbon system off the Shimokita peninsula. In particular, we address the following questions: Does the coalbed act as geobiological reactor that sustains microbial life at great burial depth? Do the conversion and transport of coal-derived compounds influence carbon flow and biomass at depth and in the overlying shallower strata? How deep does the deep biosphere extend into the seafloor and what are the limiting factors for life? We use organic geochemical approaches including qualitative, quantitative, and molecular-isotopic analyses of gases, dissolved organic matter, and polar membrane lipids representative of live microbial biomass. We will test our hypothesis on the role of coalbeds as energy and carbon sources for the deep biosphere in cultivation-based laboratory experiments.
IODP Exp. 337 was the first scientific ocean drilling initiative to core and sample a subseafloor hydrocarbon system using riser-drilling technology. Hole C0020A was drilled at a water depth of 1180 m and reached a total sediment depth of 2466 m. It is currently the deepest hole that was drilled by scientific ocean drilling. The expedition seeks to explore the microbial ecosystem and microbial processes associated with a deeply buried coalbed situated ~2 km below the seafloor off Japan as well as to detect and examine the signatures of the deepest microbial communities ever accessed by scientific drilling. We investigate the diverse relationships between microorganisms and organic matter in the hydrocarbon system off the Shimokita peninsula. In particular, we address the following questions: Does the coalbed act as geobiological reactor that sustains microbial life at great burial depth? Do the conversion and transport of coal-derived compounds influence carbon flow and biomass at depth and in the overlying shallower strata? How deep does the deep biosphere extend into the seafloor and what are the limiting factors for life? We use organic geochemical approaches including qualitative, quantitative, and molecular-isotopic analyses of gases, dissolved organic matter, and polar membrane lipids representative of live microbial biomass. We will test our hypothesis on the role of coalbeds as energy and carbon sources for the deep biosphere in cultivation-based laboratory experiments.