2005 Annual Science Report
Astrobiology Roadmap Objective 6.1 Reports Reporting | JUL 2004 – JUN 2005
Roadmap Objective 6.1—Environmental changes and the cycling of elements by the biota, communities, and ecosystems
Project Reports
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Subsurface Biospheres
Members of our team at UNC Chapel Hill focus on molecular studies of deep subsurface communities
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 4.1 4.3 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Genome Evolution and Innovation
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.2 -
Examinations of the Microbial Diversity Found in Ice Cores
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 -
Bacterial Tubulin and the Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell; Sea Ice Bacteria
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 3.4 4.2 5.3 6.1 -
Biosignatures in Chemosynthetic and Photosynthetic Systems
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 4.1 5.1 5.2 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Iron Oxidation – Shaping the Past and Present Environments
The biology of Iron Oxidation
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.1 5.3 6.1 -
Planetary Biology, Evolution and Intelligence
Chris Chyba, Cynthia Phillips, Kevin Hand- The project has two components. The first, an overview of the astrobiological potential of various geological features on Europa, is proceeding well — we are continuing study of various proposed formation mechanisms for different features types such as ridges, bands, and chaotic terrain. The second, a search for current geological activity by comparing Galileo images taken on different orbits, is also in progress. We have performed a first-stage search of the Galileo Europa images to find overlapping images, and are currently working on an automated search method to make sure that we find all possible comparison images. We are also working on automated processing techniques.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Molecular Survey of Microbial Diversity in Hypersaline Ecosystems
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 3.4 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.2 -
Chemistry Models for Extrasolar Planets
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Iron and Sulfur-Based Biospheres and Their Biosignatures
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Microbial and Biogeochemical Characterization of a Terrestrial Analogue Site for Mars.
Vertical and horizontal excavations at the Lupin gold mine in northern Canada allow access to a 500-meter thick permafrost/rock environment overlying a methane-bearing brine/rock environment.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 -
Microbial Communities and Activities in the Deep Marine Subsurface
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.1 5.3 6.1 6.2 -
Synergism, Evolution, and Functional Ecogenomics of Deep-Subsurface Microbial Communities Based on Molecular Analyses
Samples for genome analysis were collected at a depth of about 8,000 ft below the surface from a South African gold mine in the Witwatersrand Basin.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 -
Re-Tracing Steps Towards a Habitable World: The Biogeochemical Evolution of Sulfur on the Early Earth.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 -
Mass Extinction Events, the Longest Snowball Earth Event, the Evolution of Oxygenic Photosynthesis, and TPW Induced Perturbations of the Carbon Cycle.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.3 4.1 4.3 6.1 -
Hindcasting Ecosystems
Earth Science’s paleobiology identifies modern analogs that serve as functional scenarios for past environments inferred from proxy records. This serves Astrobiology to increase its depth and scope as the science of life in the universe
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 6.1 -
Radiolysis as a Source of Chemical Energy for Microbial Metabolism in the Deep Subsurface
Radiolysis of water can accelerate water/rock interaction through production of radicals (e.g., hydrogen, hydroperoxyl, hydroxyl), ions (e.g., superoxide, protons, hydroxide), and reactive molecules (e.g., hydrogen, hydrogen peroxide, oxygen)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.3 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 7.2 -
Astrobiology Winter School
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.2 3.1 6.1 7.1 -
Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Capo)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 6.1 -
Project 6. Molecular and Isotopic Biosignatures
Steele and Postdoctoral Fellow Marc Fries used the new WiTec Raman imaging system to begin the examination of in situ carbon formation in a variety of samples, including Precambrian rocks and samples from a Mars analog site in Svalbard
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 4.1 4.2 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Darwinian Chemistry
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 -
Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Stewart)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 6.1 -
Analysis Software for in Situ Voltammetry
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.3 6.1 -
Ecosystem to Biosphere Modeling
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.3 6.1 7.2 -
Microbial Mat Communities
Our primary research objective is to better understand the origins and adaptive radiation of an ancient and biogeochemically significant assemblage of microorganisms, the sulfate-reducing prokaryotes (SRP).
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 -
Geochemical Processes and Biosignatures (House)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 -
Causes of Mass Extinctions: Testing Impact Models
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.3 6.1 -
Evolution of Atmospheric O2, Climate, and Biosphere – Ohmoto
Evolution of the Atmosphere, Oceans, and Biosphere on Early Earth:
Geological, Geochemical, and Biological ApproachesROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 6.1 -
Lee Kump
This year we published a paper in Geology which proposed that episodic release of hydrogen sulfide (H2S ) from the ocean caused the end-Permian mass extinction. Moreover, we suggested that the underlying environmental driver, euxinic deep waters (enriched in H2S), may have been the norm during a billion years of Earth history (from 1.8 Ga to 0.8 Ga), and that H2S eruptions may have delayed colonization of the land surface
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.1 4.3 5.2 6.1 -
The Virtual Planetary Laboratory – The Life Modules
Coupled model of the anaerobic, early Archean biosphere, prior to the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis (Kharecha, Kasting, and Siefert). This model includes organisms that metabolize using H2, H2S, and Fe++ as reductants. A primary goal was to estimate the production rate of methane.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.2 3.3 4.1 4.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 -
Geochemical and Geochemistry of Early Earth – Isotope Stratigraphy
C and O isotope analyses of carbonates from the Proterozoic/Phanerozoic transition of the Siberian Platform: proxy for early life evolution?
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 4.2 6.1 -
First-Stage Biofilm Formation Under Extreme Conditions in Ice
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.3 6.1 6.2 7.2 -
Evolution of a Habitable Planet (Arthur)
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.3 6.1 -
Subseafloor Basement (Basalt) Biosphere Studies
This project involves studies of the deep subseafloor basement biosphere. We are utilizing Ocean Drilling Program borehole (CORK) observatories to access the fluids that circulate through the ocean basin wide environment, where temperatures (2-100°C) and chemistry are conducive to a very broad range of aerobic and anaerobic and heterotrophic and chemolithotrophic metabolisms and survival strategies.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
Integrated Characterization of Microbial Communities Associated With Aquatic Redox Gradients
Our investigations of oxic-anoxic transitions are focused on understanding the synergy between geochemical processes and microbial community and metabolic diversity. These studies not only further our understanding of geochemical cycles that have shaped the evolution of Earth but also have the potential to contribute to flight-related missions through the development of in situ measurement technologies.
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1