COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ECOHYDROLOGY OF DEEP CRYSTALLINE ROCKS AT DUSEL HOMESTAKE

拟议中的深层地下科学与工程实验室（DUSEL）为研究深层地下生态系统提供了一个独特的机会，这一努力可能从根本上改变我们看待地球上生命的起源和早期进化的方式，寻找新材料，或者产生维持子孙后代的能源。我们被一个首要问题所引导：是什么控制着地下生命的分布和进化？我们的假设是，这些控制是由与地质、地球化学、地质力学和水文有关的过程主导的。尺度和相的发展主题，或具有相似特征的区域，贯穿了所有的过程。该项目响应DUSEL S4招标，最终目标是准备一份初步设计报告，描述将作为DUSEL设施一部分开发的实验。项目规划活动包括：1)利用广泛的Homestake数据完善生态水文相模型；2)举办研讨会，完善目标、实验设计、基础设施、教育和推广活动；3)撰写初步设计报告和工作分解结构。我们对地下生命的了解仅仅来自于对几个钻孔和深矿的研究。我们正计划在水文、地球化学和岩石系统状态的背景下，对南达科他州布莱克山的前霍姆斯特克金矿的深层生态系统进行第一次详细研究，DUSEL已被提出。Homestake DUSEL长期深层地球科学观测站的发展将彻底改变深层地下生态水文学领域。年轻科学家和国际参与这样一个设施的机会将是巨大的。这项工作的结果将具有广泛的意义，因为目前地球表面的20%由类似的地质环境组成。DUSEL还将通过研究生与世界级地球科学家一起工作，促进K-12的体验式学习。目前的活动将特别侧重于南达科他州的目标受众和项目。

The proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) provides a unique opportunity to study deep subsurface ecosystems, an endeavor that could fundamentally change the way we view the origin and early evolution of life on Earth, the search for novel materials, or the generation of energy to sustain future generations. We are guided by the over-arching question: What controls the distribution and evolution of subsurface life? Our hypothesis is that these controls are dominated by processes related to geology, geochemistry, geomechanics, and hydrology. Themes of scaling and the development of facies, or zones of similar characteristics, cut across all the processes. This project responds to the DUSEL S4 solicitation and has the ultimate goal to prepare a Preliminary Design Report describing experiments that will be developed as part of the DUSEL facility. Project planning activities include 1) refinement of the ecohydrological facies model using extensive Homestake data, 2) a workshop to refine goals, experimental designs, infrastructure, and education and outreach activities, and 3) writing the Preliminary Design Report and Work Breakdown Structure.What we know about subsurface life has come from only a few studies of a few boreholes and deep mines. We are planning the first detailed study of a deep ecosystem in the context of the hydrology, geochemistry, and rock system state that sustain it at the former Homestake gold mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota where DUSEL has been proposed. The development of a long-term deep geosciences observatory at the Homestake DUSEL will revolutionize the field of deep subsurface ecohydrology. The opportunities for young scientists and international participation in such a facility will be tremendous. Results from the work will have wide ranging implications as 20% of the current earth's surface consists of a similar geologic setting. DUSEL also will facilitate experiential learning for K-12 through graduate school students working alongside world-class geoscientists. Current activities will focus in particular on South Dakota-based target audiences and programs.