welcome!
you have found the project website for research conducted in the Philippines studying deep subsurface environments represented by "serpentinizing" springs.
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation and is an international collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of the Philippines at Diliman. We invite you to explore the subheadings above to learn more about this collaboration, why these locations are interesting, what broader applications the project has for society, and teaching tools related to the project! As the project progresses, we will also post data, more pictures, and trip blogs.
Serpentinization in the subsurface generates a possibly extensive deep habitat driven by geologically produced hydrogen, methane, and complex organic compounds. In this project, we propose to constrain biogeochemical cycling in high pH, deeply sourced fluids in our Philippines field locations, tying the role of microorganisms in these fluids directly to biogeochemical processes in "ophiolites". The suite of springs we will study range in pH (8.2 to 11.1) and Ca:Mg ratios (~1 to >600), are proximal to hydrogen/methane gas seeps, and as such define a ready made set of continental sampling sites across a spectrum of serpentinization inputs. Three goals drive our field and research plan at the Zambales and Palawan Ophiolites in the Philippines:
(1) to characterize the metabolic potential of the serpentinite subsurface ecosystem,
(2) to tie metabolic capacity to biogeochemical cycling in the geochemically-driven environment, and
(3) to lay the groundwork for understanding carbon cycle dynamics across the subsurface and surface interface.
Serpentinization in the subsurface generates a possibly extensive deep habitat driven by geologically produced hydrogen, methane, and complex organic compounds. In this project, we propose to constrain biogeochemical cycling in high pH, deeply sourced fluids in our Philippines field locations, tying the role of microorganisms in these fluids directly to biogeochemical processes in "ophiolites". The suite of springs we will study range in pH (8.2 to 11.1) and Ca:Mg ratios (~1 to >600), are proximal to hydrogen/methane gas seeps, and as such define a ready made set of continental sampling sites across a spectrum of serpentinization inputs. Three goals drive our field and research plan at the Zambales and Palawan Ophiolites in the Philippines:
(1) to characterize the metabolic potential of the serpentinite subsurface ecosystem,
(2) to tie metabolic capacity to biogeochemical cycling in the geochemically-driven environment, and
(3) to lay the groundwork for understanding carbon cycle dynamics across the subsurface and surface interface.