Microbial life in deep terrestrial subsurfaces
- Savannah River Laboratory, Aiken, SC (USA)
- Florida State Univ., Tallahassee (USA)
In 1985 the US Department of Energy (DOE) established a research program called Microbiology of the Deep Subsurface, which focuses on detecting microorganisms at greater depths, establishing fundamental scientific information, including their ecology, and exploring their potential use in clean-up of contaminated deep terrestrial sediments and groundwater environments associated with energy and defense production activities. This article describes the initial microbiological findings associated with three boreholes established at the Savannah River Plant (SRP) in Aiken, South Carolina, to a depth of 289 m beneath the soil surface and discusses how microorganisms may have come to live at these depths. Even more recent investigations have demonstrated the presence of diverse and abundant microbiological communities as deep as 520 m beneath the soil surface.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-76SR00001
- OSTI ID:
- 6968404
- Journal Information:
- Bioscience; (USA), Journal Name: Bioscience; (USA) Vol. 39:6; ISSN BISNA; ISSN 0006-3568
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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