Life Sciences Commons^™

The First Microbiological Contamination Assessment By Deep-Sea Drilling And Coring By The D/V Chikyu At The Iheya North Hydrothermal Field In The Mid-Okinawa Trough (Iodp Expedition 331), Katsunori Yanagawa, Takuro Nunoura, Sean M. Mcallister, Miho Hirai, Anja Breuker, Leah Brandt, Christopher H. House, Craig L. Moyer, Jean-Louis Birrien, Kan Aoike, Michinari Sunamura, Tetsuro Urabe, Michael J. Mottl, Ken Takai

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

During the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 331 at the Iheya North hydrothermal system in the Mid-Okinawa Trough by the D/V Chikyu, we conducted microbiological contamination tests of the drilling and coring operations. The contamination from the drilling mud fluids was assessed using both perfluorocarbon tracers (PFT) and fluorescent microsphere beads. PFT infiltration was detected from the periphery of almost all whole round cores (WRCs). By contrast, fluorescent microspheres were not detected in hydrothermally active core samples, possibly due to thermal decomposition of the microspheres under high-temperature conditions. Microbial contamination from drilling mud fluids to the core interior subsamples …