Funding: EU

Project period: 2021 - 2024

Cooperations:

Prof. Alexander J. Probst, University of Duisburg-Essen

Prof. Dörte Becher, University of Greifswald

Prof. Paul Wilmes, Université du Luxembourg

Prof. Thomas Rattei, University of Vienna

Dr. Rolando di Primio, Aker BP, Norway

Within the framework of the FET (Future Emerging Technologies) program of the EU, the PROSPECTOMICS project will develop molecular biological methods for the detection of oil and gas deposits in the deep subsurface, using shallow sediment cores.

The basic hypotheses of the project are that all hydrocarbon deposits have minimal leakage and thus biologically usable nutrients rise into the overlying sediment. Marine sediments are generally a very nutrient poor environment, so the microbial community will respond to these additional nutrients. The samples for this project were obtained during a ship trip to the Barents Sea. Further trips are planned.

Through a multi-omics approach, the project investigates the impact of these additional nutrients on the composition of the microbial community and its metabolic processes. In addition, the effects of microbial activity on the environmental conditions in the sediment are investigated using various geochemical analyses. In addition, the geochemical data allow the omics analyzes to be interpreted in relation to environmental conditions. Multivariate statistics and machine learning are used to evaluate the very large data sets. Parameters are to be identified using statistical methods with which the occurrence of hydrocarbon deposits in the deep underground can be predicted. As the end product, we aim to develop an analytical protocol that is robust and fast enough for industrial use.