Terrestrial Subsurface Habitats

CONTINENTAL SUBSURFACE HABITATS

Groundwater microbial communities in the shallow subsurface

Projects led by Karine Villeneuve

Benjamin Groult

Collaboration: Prof. Marie Larocque (UQAM )

Prof. Benoit Barbeau (UQAM)

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Sessile and endolithic microbial communities in the shallow subsurface

Projects led by Samuel Beauregard

Nicolas Ortiz

Divya Patel

Collaboration: Prof. Marie Larocque (UQAM )

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Microbial communities in discharge areas

Projects led by Karine Villeneuve

Benjamin Groult

Microbial communities in the deep subsurface

Projects led by Jean-Christophe Gagnon

Julia Meyer

Collaboration: Prof. Kai Uwe Totsche (FSU, Germany)

Derena Geosciences (consulting firm)

Utica Resources (oil exploration)

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The continental subsurface is composed of sediment and a rock matrix often deeper. In the saturated zone, water flows from the surface in recharge zones, into the subsurface at aquifer level (groundwater), then rises to the surface at discharge or resurgent zones. In underground habitats, there are planktonic microorganisms that live in water, sessile organisms that live attached to particles or on rock surfaces, and endolithic organisms that live in rock pores. These populations colonize both saturated and unsaturated areas in subsurface habitats, ranging from a few meters (shallow) to a few kilometers (deep).

The underground world contains natural habitats such as caves, mainly formed by water erosion, or man-made environments such as abandoned mines. These subsurface habitats contain a large number of microbial populations yet to be discovered.

Thus, we are studying the microbial communities in groundwater (Laurentides and Lanaudière regions, Quebec), sediments and rocks of the superficial subsurface (<50m), in the groundwater surface discharge zones, and in the deep subsurface (Canada and Germany).