Application form InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship ...
Application form InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship ...
Application form InterRidge Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship ...
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<strong>InterRidge</strong>!<strong>Student</strong>!<strong>and</strong>!<strong>Postdoctoral</strong>!<strong>Fellowship</strong>!Program!2010!Title:!An!Experimental!Study!for!characterizing!thermogenic!methane!at!sediment"covered!hydrothermal!systems!Applicant:!!Shinsuke!Kawagucci!!1.!!Scientific!Merit!<strong>and</strong>!Quality!The!proposed!research!is!to!conduct!hydrothermal!experiments!on!seafloor!sediments!in!order!to!delineate!the!boundary!between!“thermogenic”!<strong>and</strong>!“biogenic”!methane.!!Plots!of!the!isotopic!composition!of!methane!versus!the!C1/C2!or!C1/(C2+C3)!ratio!are!often!used!to!fingerprint!methane!sources!as!biogenic!or!thermogenic!if!they!fall!within!characteristic!ranges.!!Gases!with!compositions!falling!between!these!ranges!are!often!interpreted!as!representing!a!mixture!between!these!two!endmembers.!!However,!as!pointed!out!by!Kawagucci,!it!is!only!recently!that!the!possibility!of!biogenic!methanogenesis!occurring!at!elevated!temperatures!has!been!indicated.!!Thus,!the!assumption!that!methane!found!in!vent!fluids!that!interact!with!sediments!must,!of!course,!contain!some!portion!of!thermogenic!methane!may!be!flawed.!!However,!without!an!investigation!of!the!methane!that!can!be!generated!from!sediments!during!interaction!with!hydrothermal!fluid,!the!community!will!have!no!way!of!knowing.!!!Kawagucci’s!experiments!will!be!conducted!on!poisoned!sediments!which!have!been!bubbled!with!helium!to!remove!any!sorbed!gases.!!The!hydrothermal!experimental!techniques!to!be!used!are!proven!technology,!so!that!there!is!a!very!high!rate!of!success.!!I!think!that!these!experiments!will!fill!critical!data!gaps!in!our!knowledge!about!the!generation!of!sedimentary!methane.!!This!approach!is!elegant!in!its!simplicity—so!much!so,!that!I!find!myself!wondering!“why!didn’t!I!think!of!that”?!!In!addition,!once!the!thermogenic!field!is!better!constrained,!these!chemical!characteristics!can!be!used!to!better!model!the!proportions!of!mixed!biogenic/thermogenic!gases!(if!a!hydrothermal!methane!sample!is!a!mixture).!!From!this,!I!think!such!data!collected!from!vent!fluids!in!the!future!could!provide!some!constraints!on!the!hydrology!of!seafloor!systems!(i.e.,!does!sediment"fluid!interaction!occur!during!recharge!or!upflow)!<strong>and</strong>!will!likely!have!applications!beyond!<strong>InterRidge</strong>,!to!continental!systems!as!well.!!A!better!underst<strong>and</strong>ing!of!where!<strong>and</strong>!how!methane!is!generated!is!also!critical!to!furthering!studies!on!the!distribution!of!the!subsurface!biosphere.!!!!2.!!Alignment!with!<strong>InterRidge</strong>!priorities.!!!I!think!this!proposal!is!well!aligned!with!“Hydrothermal!Energy!<strong>and</strong>!Ocean!Carbon!Cycles”.!!The!data!generated!by!this!experiment!will!refine!constraints!on!methane!production—which!is!a!key!component!of!the!carbon!cycle.!!It!is!critical!to!know!if!methane!is!being!generated!as!“new”!carbon!from!biogenic!processes,!or!if!it!is!derived!from!the!maturation!of!organic!matter.!!Given!how!the!carbon!cycle!also!intersects!with!“Vent!Ecology”,!I!think!the!data!from!this!experimental!study!could!also!be!of!importance!to!the!priorities!of!that!working!group!as!well.!!!!3)!Overall!evaluation!!"!Strongly!supportive!of!the!proposal!!
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