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RESEARCH PROJECTS: Geochemical Records of the Earth's Biosphere Photochemical Reactions of Sulfur and Iron in the Early Earth The Genomic Record of Earth's Early Biosphere Laboratory Microbial Simulations: Astrobiological Signatures Modern Analogue of Precambrian Microbial Ecosystem |
SECTION V: Modern Analogues of Precambrian Microbial Ecosystems
A modern analogue of the Proterozoic marine biosphere is Fayetteville Green Lake, New York. We will conduct a comprehensive, multidisciplinary investigation of the ecosystems in this lake to understand the connections between: (a) the changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of the water body, and (b) the changes in biology, biochemistry, and genetic characteristics of both the planktonic and benthic ecosystems. We will also carry out investigations on the biochemistry and genetics of microbial communities in polar ice in order to increase our understanding of how organisms survived through the Snowball Earth during the Precambrian and to predict the nature of organisms that might exist on Europa. We will investigate the biogeochemical processes of the formation of modern soils in order to aid in deciphering the record in Precambrian paleosols.
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