Experimental and field investigations of diverse organic carbon production pathways in seafloor hydrothermal systems
PhD project of Thomas Øfstegaard Viflot
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Project title
Experimental and field investigations of diverse organic carbon production pathways in seafloor hydrothermal systems
Supervisors
Eoghan Reeves, Ida Helene Steen, Thorsten Dittmar (University of Oldenburg)
Funding
Research Council of Norway FRINATEK project “HyPOD”, and Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen
Project description
Many modern seafloor hydrothermal systems evidently host a variety of life forms using different chemicals in the hydrothermal fluid as energy sources. Organic molecules essential for life here can originate from various sources, however, including heating of seawater containing dissolved organic matter (DOM), heating of organic-rich sediment, as well as abiotic synthesis from inorganic carbon (e.g. CO2). However, science has yet to fully comprehend the complexity of the diverse organic carbon production pathways in these systems. This project will aim to increase our understanding of how, which and where low molecular weight organic molecules are formed in these environments. Through experiments, I will simulate hydrothermal system conditions (high temperature and pressure) to investigate the low molecular weight organic molecules that may form from various sources (sediments, DOM and abiotic synthesis), and compare these results to field data with real hydrothermal fluid samples.
