title: Trends and future challenges in sampling the deep terrestrial biosphere.
abstract: Research in the deep terrestrial biosphere is driven by interest in novel biodiversity and metabolisms, biogeochemical cycling, and the impact of human activities on this ecosystem. As this interest continues to grow, it is important to ensure that when subsurface investigations are proposed, materials recovered from the subsurface are sampled and preserved in an appropriate manner to limit contamination and ensure preservation of accurate microbial, geochemical, and mineralogical signatures. On February 20th, 2014, a workshop on "Trends and Future Challenges in Sampling The Deep Subsurface" was coordinated in Columbus, Ohio by The Ohio State University and West Virginia University faculty, and sponsored by The Ohio State University and the Sloan Foundation's Deep Carbon Observatory. The workshop aims were to identify and develop best practices for the collection, preservation, and analysis of terrestrial deep rock samples. This document summarizes the information shared during this workshop.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA ; Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wilkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Paula J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mouser
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trexler
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University Morgantown, WV, USA.
authors.forename: Shihka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wrighton
authors.affiliation: College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware Lewes, DE, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Biddle
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, Penn State University, State College PA, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Denis
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Jim K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Fredrickson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, New Mexico Tech Socorro, NM, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Kieft
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, Princeton University Princeton, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Tullis C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Onstott
authors.affiliation: Itasca Consulting Group Minneapolis, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Biotechnology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pfiffner
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Biotechnology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Tommy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Phelps
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, Michigan State University East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Schrenk
keywords: contamination; deep biosphere; deep life; deep subsurface; drilling; shale