Biosignatures of Mineralizing Microbial Mats in a Deep Biosphere Environment

摘要

INTRODUCTION The 450 m deep Tunnel of (A)sp(o) ((A) sp(o) Hard Rock Laboratory) in SE Sweden offers a unique window into the deep continental biosphere, where the growth of different microbial consortia strongly depends on ground water flow and chemical composition (Pedersen, 1997).This contribution gives an overview of the geobiological setting and current experiments running in the (A)sp(o) Hard Rock Laboratory. Emphasis was placed on (i) long-term flow reactor experiments exploring the subsurface biofilm and biomineral formation under controlled conditions, and (ii) high resolution geochemical analyses of biosignatures in mineralized fracture fillings of the (A)sp(o) Diorite host rock.