THERMOSPORE: The deep biosphere, microbe dispersal, and novel strategies for geoenergy exploration

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THERMOSPORE will develop bioassays to quantify marine bacteria to deliver novel tools for offshore oil and gas exploration. Project partners include ExxonMobil Canada and the Geological Survey of Canada.Microorganisms are often discovered in environments that do not support their metabolic activity. It was recently reported that large numbers of thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria are constantly deposited as dormant spores into permanently cold marine Arctic sediments. What is surprising about these "thermo-spores" is their high numbers and steady influx into the sediment, estimated at 100,000,000 spores annually per square meter of the seabed. They must be coming from a warm place somewhere else that has sufficient geographic distribution and source strength to account for the high flux of cells into the seabed.Thermo-spore genomics offers some clues. Closest known relatives come from hot spots in the deep marine biosphere. Most relatives come from deep hot oil reservoirs buried deeply in marine sediments. Petroleum reservoirs are leaky, allowing hydrocarbons to seep up through overlying sediments to the surface. This fluid flow may transport thermo-spores away from warm oil reservoir habitats up into the cold ocean.Microbial activity and gene diversity data will be used to develop sensitive quantification procedures, which will be applied to marine sediments in the Gulf of Mexico and Canadian Arctic, including seeps sampled by ExxonMobil. Of interest is whether thermo-spores can help locate subsurface petroleum deposits. New bioassays will aim to use these bacteria for seabed mapping in areas of hydrocarbon seepage. Seep detection is a routine part of risk evaluations in oil and gas prospective areas, hence thermo-spore assays could underpin new technology for offshore oil exploration in Atlantic Canada and the Canadian Arctic.