Carbon in the Deep Biosphere: Forms, Fates, and Biogeochemical Cycling

Susan Q. Lang, Magdalena R. Osburn, Andrew D. Steen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

3 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationDeep Carbon
Subtitle of host publicationPast to Present
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages480-523
Number of pages44
ISBN (Electronic)9781108677950
ISBN (Print)9781108477499
StatePublished - 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

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