IODP site U1456 in the eastern Arabian Sea Metagenome. IODP site U1456 in the eastern Arabian Sea

We are interested in studying the subsurface biosphere of the Indus Fan cone. To this end, we have used an integrated approach of studying microbial diversity as well as microbial abundance down a specific drill hole of IODP Leg 355 at high resolution using 16S rRNA gene sequencing surveys and Lipid Biomarkers, in collaboration with Julius Lipp at MARUM. Findings from this hole could be extrapolated to the greater Indus Fan to the extent possible. This cruise focused on paleooceanographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions from highly stratified sediments of the Indus Fan that reflect the onset as well as progression of the Indian Monsoon. Our studies would attempt linking microbial diversity to such climatic oscillations and via metagenomic based reconstructions of community function, uncover microbial hydrolytic potential critical for microbial communities to subsist in such high - niche - organic matter settings. PI Gowtham Subbarao, Scripps Institution of Oceanography