NAI
2003 Annual Science Report
University of Rhode Island
Reporting | JUL 2002 – JUN 2003
Executive Summary
The University of Rhode Island (URI) team of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) works to gain a fundamental understanding of Earth’s subsurface life. The team’s research is principally, but not exclusively, focused on study of life in deeply buried marine sediments. Earth’s deep biosphere is a critical component of Earth’s biogeochemical cycles and serves as a model for possible life on other planets. Consequently, the team’s objectives are to understand the subsurface microbial ecosystems of marine sediments, their role in Earth’s biogeochemical cycles, and their relevance to the search for life on other planets.
Environments of special interest for our team include: 1) old, deeply buried sediments where life exists despite extremely low concentrations of electron donors and key nutrients, and 2) hot, deeply buried anoxic sediments where life may exist independently of the photosynthesis-based ecosystem at Earth’s surface. The ecosystems of these subsurface habitats ...
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Steven D'Hondt
NAI, ASTEP, ASTID, Exobiology -
TEAM Active Dates:
7/2001 - 6/2006 CAN 2 -
Members:
27 (See All) - Visit Team Page
Project Reports
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Subsurface Biospheres
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 4.1 5.3
Publications
- There are no publications for this team in the 2003 annual report.
2003 Teams
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Arizona State University
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Harvard University
Marine Biological Laboratory
Michigan State University
NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Johnson Space Center
Pennsylvania State University
Scripps Research Institute
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Rhode Island
University of Washington
Virtual Planetary Laboratory (JPL/CalTech)