What major questions do we address
in deep biosphere research?
Deep biosphere studies seek to answer questions that range from
exploratory and census-level to some of the most complex and fundamental
in the earth and life sciences today. For example: What is the
nature and extent of life on Earth? What are the physico-chemical
limits of life on Earth? How metabolically active is the deep
subseafloor biosphere, and what are the most important redox processes?
Are there exotic metabolic processes occurring? How are microbes
dispersed in the deep subseafloor biosphere? How does life evolve
in deeply buried geological deposits beneath the ocean floor?
These questions are diverse and demand interdisciplinary research
approaches in microbiology, molecular biology, geology, geochemistry,
engineering, hydrology and more. Our research findings have the
potential to impact major current questions such as energy creation,
climate change, and the very nature of evolution of life on Earth.
To address these challenges, DEBI focuses across four broad research
themes:
More general information about deep biosphere research can be
found here.
RCN THEMES | THEME I | THEME
II | THEME III | THEME
IV
