IRONSTONE: Integrating deep microbial dynamics in the critical zone.

IRONSTONE is a collaborative project between ECOBIO Rennes (UMR 6553), Géosciences Rennes (UMR 6118), Institut de Physique de Rennes (UMR 6251) and IPGP (UMR 7154) and has been funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche in 2021 for 4 years. IRONSTONE assess how and to what extent groundwater circulations favoring the formation of chemical desequilibria drive deep microbial activity and associated biogeochemical reactions in a fractured aquifer (in relationship with the Ploemeur Observatory, Critical Zone Exploration Network, France). IRONSTONE relies on an original methodology that integrates innovative microfluidic experiments, novel field tracer tests, environmental genomics, thermodynamics and state-of-the-art microimaging that will provide a new understanding of deep microbial dynamics and its influence on aquifer-scale biogeochemical fluxes in the critical zone.