Prairie mud mounds Targeted loci environmental
Prairie mud mounds are widespread structures in the Canadian Prairie that are caused by the discharge of subsurface muds and gases. Yet, despite their common occurrence, and their potential impact on the climate due to the likely emission of methane they have so far not been investigated in detail. We are thoroughly investigating the geophysics, geochemistry, and geomicrobiology of these ecosystems to assess the origins of the subsurface muds and gases, gas migration pathways, gas fluxes, and microbial communities. Microbial community structure will be analyzed to identify key populations, potentially microbial methane oxidizers, and trophic networks that may play a role in subsurface geochemical processes. Terrestrial mud mounds have to our knowledge not been described previously, so the communities will be compared to those of similar ecosystems such as mud volcanoes. This pioneering work is admittedly a high-risk project, but if successful, our project will yield unprecedented insights into so far unexplored ecosystems that may not only be connected to the subsurface, but also be relevant for the global methane budget. PI, S. Emil Ruff, Marine Biological Laboratory