RAPID: Hot spring microbial response to magma intrusion at Fagradalsfjall volcano, Iceland

2021年3月19日，冰岛雷克雅未克附近的Fagradalsfjall火山开始喷发，导致一个新的突出裂缝。 火山爆发释放出的挥发性气体会进入地下，并流向地表的温泉。这个RAPID项目的目的是对火山附近温泉中的微生物群落进行采样和分析。PI和她的团队将采用最近开发的方法来跟踪大陆范围内的温泉微生物及其活动。他们将使用一套广泛的非正式收集的地球化学测量结果，沿着地质梯度对许多不同地热温泉的微生物群落进行采样。在活跃的火山活动期间，需要迅速作出反应，以采集这些样本。这项工作正在与冰岛的合作者进行协调，并将加强国际科学合作。探险视频将通过社交媒体和公开演示分享。PI和她的团队已经证明，测量大量的地球化学成分（例如，水相、气相和固相中的碳和氮同位素、金属和稀有气体）和微生物学数据（16 S rRNA基因扩增子文库、宏基因组、元转录组和细胞计数），使微生物群落的组成和功能与群落每个部分的最显著的地球化学因素联系起来。在Fagradalsfjall火山下面，地震活动表明岩浆是沿着沿着NE-SW走向的断层系统注入的，那里有丰富的天然温泉。本项目将检验火山活动附近温泉中的微生物群落对挥发性通量的反应比远距离温泉中的反应更明显的假设。通过对受附近岩浆侵入体影响的温泉进行采样，将在挥发性影响的梯度上跟踪微生物生态系统。由于这些驱逐是短暂的，抽样活动是非常及时的。这项研究将前所未有地获得新生岩浆扰动热液生态系统的梯度。它将把温泉微生物群落与可能驱动它们的深层地下营养物质联系起来，这在羽流驱动的大陆裂谷中还没有被探索过。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

On March 19, 2021 Fagradalsfjall volcano, near Reykjavik Iceland, began erupting, resulting in a new and prominent fissure. Volcanic eruptions release volatile gases underground that make their way to hot springs on the Earth's surface. The purpose of this RAPID project is to sample and analyze the microbial communities in the hot springs near the volcano. The PI and her team will employ a recently developed approach to track hot spring microbes and their activities on continental-scales. They will sample microbial communities across many different geothermal hot springs along a geological gradient, using a broad suite of simultaneously-collected geochemical measurements. A rapid response is necessary to take these samples during active volcanic activity. The work is being coordinated with collaborators in Iceland and will enhance international scientific collaboration. Video of the expedition will be shared via social media and in public presentations. The PI and her team have demonstrated that measuring a large number of geochemical constituents (e.g., carbon and nitrogen isotopes, metals, and noble gases in the aqueous, gas, and solid phases) and microbiological data (16S rRNA gene amplicon libraries, metagenomes, metatranscriptomes, and cell counts), enabled microbial community compositions and functions to be linked to the most salient geochemical factors for each part of the community. Beneath the Fagradalsfjall volcano, seismic activity indicates that magmas are injected along a NE-SW trending fault system, where abundant natural hot springs occur. This project will test the hypothesis that the microbial communities in hot springs near the volcanic activity will experience more pronounced reactions to volatile fluxes than those in distal hot springs. By sampling hot springs variably influenced by the nearby magmatic intrusions, microbial ecosystems will be tracked across a gradient of volatile influence. Since these expulsions are short-lived, the sampling campaign is extremely time-sensitive. This study will have unprecedented access to a gradient of nascent magmatic disturbances to hydrothermal ecosystems. It will link hot spring microbial communities with the deep subsurface nutrients that may drive them, which has not yet been explored in a plume-driven continental rift. Filmed products of the expedition and scientific studies will be shared via social media and outreach with the public.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.