Stéven Yvenou

Stéven Yvenou Diversity and metabolic activity of microbial ecosystems associated with different mineralogical contexts of massive sulfide deposits Or Identify which microorganisms are found around « inactive » massive sulphide deposits and how much carbon they are capable to fix.

Stéven is studying the microorganisms that develop around massive sulphide deposits (really important quantities of iron sulphide deposits) on so-called "inactive" Sites. However, describing those sites as « inactive » can be misleading, because, although there is no longer any emission of hydrothermal fluid. The site is not inactive from a biological point of view because many microorganisms seem to develop there. He looks at bacteria and archaea activities and tries to find out which quantity of carbon microorganisms can fix. To realize that, he collects samples during oceanographic campaigns and then realizes cultures of microorganisms in the presence of carbon compounds to quantify how much carbon (the microorganisms) they can fix. After that, depending on the size of the deposits, Stéven will be able to estimate the quantities of carbon that the microorganisms could fix every year.

Why this subject ?

It is a hot topic right now, there is a lot of debate surrounding potential deep-sea mining and so-called “inactive” Hydrothermal sites could be interesting targets for industry due to their wealth of mineral resources. Although those less studied sites could home a significant diversity and abundance of microorganisms and participate in fixing carbon in the deep-sea.