Laboratory Simulation of an Iron(II)-rich Precambrian Marine Upwelling System to Explore the Growth of Photosynthetic Bacteria

The overall goal of this experimental approach is to simulate a ferruginous upwelling system and to detect geochemical profiles of oxygen and aqueous iron in the water column when cyanobacteria were present and produces oxygen by photosynthesis. This newly developed method can help answer key questions in the field of earth's history such as the oxygenation of the atmosphere and the deposition of banded iron formations. The main advantage of this technique is that geochemical conditions still might have existed in a Precambrian ocean can be simulated on lab scale being investigated and seen to with modern methods.

Though this method can provide insight into early earth studies, it can also be applied to other modern environments such as for geo-microbial investigations and chemical fluctuating in sediment bodies. Generally, individuals new to this method will struggle because setting up the experiment is not trivial but the video will provide information on the most critical steps performed in the protocol. Bacteria culturing, early assembly steps of the set up, and notes on sterilizing materials are all described in the text protocol.