Researchers have examined the influence of geochemistry on microorganisms that live in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. Subsurface processes, such as hydrothermal fluids separating into vapor and liquid, affect the geochemistry of the hot spring environment as well as molecules present in the habitat that are used in microbial metabolism. The recent study provides ties between geochemical variation and the abundance, composition, and activity of hydrogen (H2)‐dependent chemoautotrophic microbes along the outflow channels of Yellowstone hot springs.

The paper, “Subsurface processes influence oxidant availability and chemoautotrophic hydrogen metabolism in Yellowstone hot springs,” was published in the journal Geobiology. The work was supported by NASA Astrobiology through the Exobiology Program.