| Summary: | Funds are provided to investigate the degree to which cyanobacteria and algae are involved in generating hyperalkaline conditions that result in rapid rock weathering and dissolution of silica cements and minerals in the Canadian High Arctic. Preliminary results suggest a potentially large-scale mechanism for biogenic chemical weathering, and raise new questions about biochemical mechanisms and microbe-mineral interactions. The proposed project will elucidate microbially-mediated weathering mechanisms in cryptoendolithic habitats by phototrophic microorganisms, and the degree to which these microbial communities control landscape evolution. The Principal Investigator will address five questions: 1. What is the nature of the microbial community in cyanobacterial-dominated habitats? 2. To what extent can cyanobacteria alter the pore water pH of cryptoendolithic habitats? 3. How do cyanobacteria alter pore water pH, and under what surface conditions? 4. Do alkaline conditions lead to accelerated chemical weathering of sandstone rocks? 5. What is the fate of the dissolved silica? He will use both field and laboratory tools and techniques developed through his research in microbiology, molecular biology, geology and geochemistry to characterize the cryptoendolithic habitat and associated microbial communities, identify mechanisms for bioalkalization in cyanobacteria and algae, and document the impact of high pH generated by phototrophic microorganisms on rock weathering in this High Arctic environment.
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