Objective
"With COULOMBUS I will explore the new electronic world I recently found in marine sediment; a living world featuring transmission of coulombs of electrons over long distances through a grid of unknown origin and composition. This is a great challenge to science, and I will specifically
- Unravel function, expansion, resilience, and microbial engineering of the conductive grid
- Identify microbial and geological processes related to long distance electron transfer today and in the past
- Introduce the electron as a new element in biogeochemical and ecological models.
- Map the range of sediment and soil habitats featuring biogeoelectric currents
Incubations of marine sediment will serve as the “base camp” for the surveys. Here I consistently observe that current sources extending centimetres down deliver electrons for most of the oxygen consumption, and here my array of advanced microsensors and biogeochemical methods works well. My team will record electric currents and biogeochemical changes as we manipulate mechanical, chemical, and biological conditions, thereby getting to an understanding of the interplay between conductors, microorganisms, electron donors, electron acceptors, and minerals. Next we take the methods out in the sea to evaluate biogeoelectricity in situ using robots. Other aquatic environments will also be screened. The ultimate outdoor challenge will come as I lead the team into soils where surface potentials suggest biogeoelectric currents deep down. All observations, experiments, and models will be directed to answer the groundbreaking questions: What physics and microbial engineering can explain long distance electron conductance in nature? How do electric microbial communities evolve and how do they shape element cycling? What signatures of biogeoelectricity are left in the geological record of earth history? If I succeed I will have opened up many new exciting research routes for the followers."
Fields of science
Call for proposal
ERC-2011-ADG_20110209
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Funding Scheme
ERC-AG - ERC Advanced GrantHost institution
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark