Collaborative Research: RAPID: Microbiologic sampling of continental subsurface fluids from within the Cornell University Borehole Observatory (CUBO)

This project will collect samples of hot salty groundwater from roughly 1.5 to nearly 2 miles underground to study what microorganisms may live at these depths. The unusual opportunity to collect these samples comes from a deep well that is being drilled on Cornell University’s campus in upstate New York during Summer 2022. This deep environment is considered to be an extreme environment because of the warm temperature (150-200˚F), high salt concentration, lack of sunlight (energy), and lack of nutrients.

Microbial cells will be counted from the collected samples to provide a better understanding of how much live lives underground. DNA will be analyzed to identify which types of microorganisms are living underground and to understand how those microorganisms survive in such an extreme environment. Ad¬vancing our knowledge of the diversity of microorganisms underground and how they survive can potentially provide insights into the origins of life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.

Additionally, this study will collect groundwater for chemical analyses that will better describe this extreme environment and aid efforts to grow the collected organisms in the laboratory. Collectively, cell counts, DNA, chemistry, and growth experiments will improve our understanding of life in the subsurface and life’s impacts to the chemistry of our planet.

As part of this project, deep subsurface briny fluid samples will be collected upon completion of the Cornell University Borehole Observatory (CUBO), a DOE-funded 3-km deep geothermal exploratory well being drilled on Cornell’s upstate New York campus during summer 2022. Key objectives of the project are to: (1) collect and preserve water for geochemical analyses during a planned pump test, (2) quantify biomass concentrations using microscopy, (3) filter and preserve 100s of liters of fluid for genomic analyses, and (4) establish enrichment cultures.

Sampling will target the Precambrian metamorphic / crystalline basement and overlying Paleozoic sedimentary sequences between 2.3 – 3.0 km depth where temperatures are expected to be ~ 70-95˚C. The large volume fluid sampling for geochemical and microbiologic characterization proposed here is not a part of the DOE-supported scope.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.