The goal of this ambitious 1000 Springs Research Project is to understand and compare the microbiology of these springs along with their physical and chemical make-up. That adds up to a lot of sampling trips, processing of data and investigation of the findings!
|Bruce Mountain/ GNS Science|
1000 Springs database website.
The selected springs span the known pH ranges (pH 0-9) and temperature ranges (20°C-99°C) or have unusual geochemical or geophysical profiles. Sites with high cultural or conservation value are also included.
All this new knowledge will allow New Zealand to assess the conservation, cultural, recreational and resource development value of the microbes in geothermal ecosystems, and enable further future microbial ecology research and discovery.
|Photo by Matt Stott / GNS Science|
Here is our video of the 1000 Springs team in action: