Abstract
Building on the synthesis of carbon reservoirs in Earth’s subsurface, this chapter focuses on the forms, cycling, and fate of the carbon supporting microbial life in the terrestrial and marine subsurface. As the subsurface is estimated to host a vast reservoir of life on Earth, identifying the carbon compounds that life uses for energy and growth is key to understanding ecosystem functioning in the past and at present, and also for extrapolating these findings to the search for life in the universe. This chapter highlights advances in quantifying small carbon compounds, measuring rates of carbon turnover, and the fate of carbon in the deep biosphere.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Deep Carbon |
Subtitle of host publication | Past to Present |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 480-523 |
Number of pages | 44 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781108677950 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781108477499 |
State | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
Keywords
- Aquifer
- Biogeochemistry
- Continental
- Deep biosphere
- Diagenesis
- Inorganic carbon
- Marine sediment
- Methane
- Organic carbon
- Reminerlization
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences