Launched in July 2009, the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is approximate 40 percent into its planned decadal span of research. Much of the original vision of the DCO came from geologist Robert Hazen. Hazen and his colleagues have effectively set in motion many streams of observation and analysis. The unusual scope of the DCO—from diamonds to life—presents great challenges for integration and synthesis. This grant provides three years of support for the hiring of one full-time postdoctoral researcher and one graduate student to assist DCO Executive Director Hazen as he initiates this process of synthesis and integration.

This grant provides two years of continued administrative and research support to the Deep Life Community of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO).  One of four scientific communities within the DCO, the Deep Life community is a multi-national consortium of scientists working to revolutionize our understanding of the quantities, movements, forms, and origins of deep life.  Subsurface microbial ecosystems may extend to 20,000 feet beneath the seafloor and continental surface, and studies of these deep, dark biological reservoirs suggest their total carbon content may rival all surface life.  Instead of tapping into solar power, deep microbial communities harvest energy from fuels such as methane and hydrogen sulfide or buried detrital matter to drive synthesis of macromolecules and reproduce.  Led by microbial biologist Mitch Sogin of the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Deep Life Community will use grant funds to extend molecular studies to a greater number of samples from high-value marine and continental sites and describe the diversity, distribution, and functional adaptations of deep life.  Experiments will explore life’s interplay with geological processes in the deep subsurface, including studies of microbial activities and distributions in hydrogen-­rich habitats which favor abiogenic synthesis of methane and higher hydrocarbons.  In addition, deep life researchers will explore the limits of deep life using improved life detection capabilities and develop and apply tracer approaches to track the flow of carbon into biomolecules and cells.

Funds from this grant provide two years of continuing administrative and research support to the Extreme Physics and Chemistry Community of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO).  One of four scientific communities within the DCO, the Extreme Physics and Chemistry Community concerns itself with crystals, fluids, and magmas at the high pressures and temperatures characteristic of deep Earth.  Supported research will extend measurements on carbon-bearing systems to previously inaccessible conditions, combining an extraordinary array of experimental techniques with careful computational studies on challenging chemical systems.  Under the direction of UCLA geophysicist Craig Manning, as many as 19 distinct research projects are envisioned during the next two years, with a focus on simultaneously conducting numerical simulations and laboratory measurements on the same physical properties of the same materials.  Also supported under this grant is the compilation and publication of a comprehensive open-access database of thermochemical properties of carbon-bearing minerals, melts, and fluids, as well as their mixtures, to lower-mantle pressure and temperature conditions.  The continued research of the Extreme Physics and Chemistry Community promises to contribute in powerful ways to the DCO’s goal of radically advancing our understanding of deep Earth carbon.

This grant provides continued research support to the Deep Energy community of the Deep Carbon Observatory. Led by an international team of 21 scientists from eight nations and co-chaired by David Cole of Ohio State University and Isabelle Daniel of the University of Lyon, the Deep Energy research team is conducting an ambitious research agenda aimed at transforming our understanding of the origins, abundance, and distribution of abiotic hydrocarbons in the deep Earth. Over the next two years, the team will expand its sampling to 10 key geologically representative field sites around the globe; develop and deploy new instruments for sample collection and analysis; set common protocols for the collection, preservation, and analysis of samples; and work toward the development of rigorous, effective methods for distinguishing biotic from abiotic hydrocarbon.

This grant provides two years of continued support for the Reservoirs and Fluxes Directorate of the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO).  Led from the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Ecole Nationale Supйrieure de Gйologie in Nancy, France, the Directorate is the division of the DCO dedicated to transforming our understanding of the distribution, abundance, and movement of Earth’s subsurface carbon.  The group aims for important discoveries in five areas:  degassing deep carbon through volcanic processes; degassing deep carbon through tectonic and other diffuse processes; origin, age, and depth of diamonds and mineral inclusions found within them; fluid dynamics of carbon transport in volcanoes and global circulation of carbon from Earth’s surface to its core; and chemical forms, mineral hosts, and reactions of carbon moving between reservoirs. Collaborating with national volcano observatories, group members will also begin to establish the first global network for direct measurement of volcanic carbon dioxide flux and produce a new database on eruptions and volcanic gases.  Expected outcomes from this grant include new instruments, databases, models, insights, and several doctoral and postdoctoral researchers trained in deep carbon research.