Research at CGB
The Earth is a geobiological system where geological processes such as volcanism, mountain building, erosion and fluid flow have a fundamental impact on life. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that life also exerts major effects on geological processes including atmospheric composition and climate. Our knowledge of how the planet and life have co-evolved through time and how closely these are interlinked today is rapidly expanding due to current international research efforts in geobiology and related fields.
Research at CGB is focused on geobiology in the deep oceans, both in the present and in the past - and how volcanic and hydrothermal processes support chemosynthetic life. The rationale for this focus is scientific, practical and political. The mid-ocean ridge system is the most dynamic environment on Earth with extensive geobiological interactions caused by geothermal heat and hydrothermal circulation. CGB research has demonstrated that seafloor spreading actually was operational as far back as 3.8 billion years, when Earth slowly started to develop into a geo-biological system. The link between volcanism, water-rock interactions and life is a fundamental question that forms the scientific basis for the Centre.
This kind of research requires heavy, robust marine equipment. In addition it requires expertise on modern and ancient geodynamic processes and environments; state-of-the-art analytical facilities; and expertise in physiology, ecology and molecular biology.
Research at CGB is primarily organised around five themes:
- Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Systems and Geodynamics
- Water-Rock-Microbe Interactions and the Deep Biosphere
- Vent and Seep Biota
- Life in Extreme Environments and Roots of Life
- Early Earth and Biosignatures
However, the actual research activity at CGB generally overlaps more than one research theme, so CGB uses a matrix organisational model.
-
Research status
Research status 2007-2010, including highlights from the Centre for Geobiology's first three years of operation.
-
Deep-sea hydrothermal systems and geodynamics
Seafloor spreading takes place at different rates that scientists define as being “ultra-fast” (15 cm/year) to “ultra-slow” (<1.5 cm/year). The Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge is one of the few places along the global ridge systems where spreading occurs at an ultra-slow rate.
-
Water-Rock-Microbe Interactions and the Deep Biosphere
Fluids that circulate through the earth’s crust and mix with the ocean waters above are responsible for the exchange of elements between the crust and sea water. The processes involved are as yet poorly understood, but are critically important for complete models of marine chemistry and global element cycling.
-
Life in Extreme Environments and Roots of Life
Life is thought to have arisen around 3.8 billion years ago beginning with relatively simple one-celled micro-organisms. Having existed about two billion years longer than multi-celled (eukaryotic) organisms, these prokaryotic micro-organisms are extraordinarily diverse and live in an extremely broad range of habitats.
-
Vent and Seep Biota
In the extreme environments around hydrothermal vents researchers are discovering specialised communities of unusual organisms, most of which have not been found anywhere else on earth.
-
Early Earth and Biosignatures
When and where did life first evolve on earth? What did the earliest life forms look like and how did they make a living?