Panama subduction zone
The primary scientific question to be addressed in this sequencing survey is: What is the influence of biological activity on C ingassing and outgassing at the Costa Rica and Panama convergent margin? The refined constraints on volatile sources and sinks we generate will feed into a regional-scale box model, forming the basis of a geodynamic model over subduction time scales. By obtaining a gradient of influence from point sources of outgassing, as designated by the gas measurements made in situ, we will observe the community shift as it nears the source of the gas. In this way, we will be able to identify the most likely microbial clades involved in the processing of these gasses, which include carbon dioxide, sulfur compounds, methane, and perhaps higher hydrocarbons. While these 16S rRNA gene surveys will not provide direct evidence for the functions of these communities, they will provide invaluable information about the community composition that will be the target of further study. Due to the wide range geochemists, geologists, and biologists working on this project, we will have extensive metadata, such as pH, alkalinity, dissolved gas compositions, and temperature.