Skip to content
CIFAR header logo
fr
menu_mobile_logo_alt
  • News
  • Events
    • Public Events
    • Invitation-only Meetings
  • Programs
    • Research Programs
    • Pan-Canadian AI Strategy
    • Next Generation Initiatives
    • Global Call for Ideas
  • People
    • Fellows & Advisors
    • CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
    • Canada CIFAR AI Chairs
    • AI Strategy Leadership
    • Solution Network Members
    • Leadership
  • Support Us
  • About
    • Our Story
    • CIFAR 40
    • Awards
    • Partnerships
    • Publications & Reports
    • Careers
    • Staff Directory
    • Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
  • fr

Follow Us

  • Home
  • research-programs
  • Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration

smaller line
Beneath our feet is a vast, unexplored world consisting of tens of kilometres of thick crust containing water, gases, nutrients, resources, and various forms of life. The Earth 4D program’s multidisciplinary team draws on geology, chemistry, planetary science, and engineering to investigate the interactions between the subsurface and the surface on Earth. They seek to inform and expand our understanding of planetary evolution and the possibility of finding life elsewhere.

 

RESEARCH AND SOCIETAL IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

Surveillance innovation and the distribution of resources and opportunities

Several program members provided important direction and input into the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s report Origins, Worlds, and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032. This planning and policy document sets the 10-year plan and priorities for NASA research and missions, and formulates a community consensus about the most compelling scientific questions in the field for the decade ahead.

Embracing a spectrum in the search for life beyond Earth

In the search for life beyond Earth, distinguishing between living and non-living is difficult. Suggested by Earth 4D Fellow Heather Graham (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) and Program Co-Director Barbara Sherwood Lollar (University of Toronto), a more inclusive representation in the search for extracellular life could be to recognize a spectrum, or “grayness”, in what could be considered life on other planets.

As the origin of life is not a singular event, and, hindered by making comparisons of what life is on Earth, researchers may miss clues in identifying potential life elsewhere. By recognizing the limitations posed by grayness, life detection researchers will be better able to develop methods sensitive to prebiotic chemical systems and life with alternative biochemistries.

Digging deeper to explore ancient waters

Underground water aquifers have the potential to serve as both a valuable source of scientific insight into the Earth’s past and a potential source of risk for today’s subsurface activities. Program Co-Directors John Mustard (Brown University) and Barbara Sherwood Lollar, along with Fellows Jennifer McIntosh (University of Arizona), Christopher Ballentine (University of Oxford), Joseph Michalski (University of Hong Kong), Advisor Jeffrey McDonnell (University of Saskatchewan), and their trainees and collaborators, critically evaluated the extent of groundwater two to ten kilometres below our feet, and assessed the water volumes to be greater than that of ice sheets. Accurate estimates of aquifer volume and connectivity are necessary for safely planning subsurface activities such as hydrogen production, nuclear waste storage, and carbon sequestration. These ancient waters may also support microbial ecosystems still active today, knowledge about which could inform mission planning for exploring potentially habitable zones elsewhere in the solar system.

Bringing experts and researchers together to discuss life on Mars

In collaboration with the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Switzerland, Program Co-Directors John Mustard and Barbara Sherwood Lollar organized a two-day virtual workshop in October 2021. Convening international academic and space agency researchers, the group discussed the scientific, technological, and mission requirements for finding extant subsurface life on Mars. This virtual meeting laid the groundwork for a series of in-person workshops with the ISSI.

Path to Societal Impact

We invite experts in industry, civil society, healthcare and government to join fellows in our Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration program for in-depth, cross-sectoral conversations that drive change and innovation.

Experts from academia, industry, and international space agencies and CIFAR fellows in the Earth 4D program are developing the science, technology, and requirements for Mars missions to understand the limits of habitability.

Areas of focus:

  • Accessing information about water kilometres under the surface of planets, both in our own solar system and elsewhere
  • Developing international mission architectures for subsurface Mars exploration 

Founded In

2019

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Earth & Planetary Sciences
Geology
Environmental Science
Geochemistry, including isotope geochemistry and bio-geochemistry
Astrobiology
Geobiology
Hydrogeology
Microbiology
Planetary and environmental modelling
Minerology
Astronolmy
Planetary evolution

Contact

Daniel Bacinello

Fellows & Advisors

Program Directors

John Mustard

John Mustard

Program Co-Director

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Brown University
United States
Barbara Sherwood Lollar

Barbara Sherwood Lollar

Program Co-Director

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Toronto
Canada

Fellows

Chris Ballentine

Chris Ballentine

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Oxford
United Kingdom
Morgan L. Cable

Morgan L. Cable

Associate Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
California Institute of Technology
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
United States
Steven D'Hondt

Steven D'Hondt

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Rhode Island
United States
Heather Graham

Heather Graham

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
United States
Michael Manga

Michael Manga

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of California Berkeley
United States
Jennifer McIntosh

Jennifer McIntosh

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Arizona
United States
Joseph Michalski

Joseph Michalski

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Hong Kong
China
Victoria J. Orphan

Victoria J. Orphan

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
California Institute of Technology
United States
Magdalena R. Osburn

Magdalena R. Osburn

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Northwestern University
United States
Nita Sahai

Nita Sahai

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Akron
United States
Nigel J.T. Smith

Nigel J.T. Smith

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
TRIUMF
Canada
Vlada Stamenkovic

Vlada Stamenkovic

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Blue Origin
United States
Richard G. Taylor

Richard G. Taylor

Fellow

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University College London
United Kingdom

Advisors

Jan Amend

Jan Amend

Advisory Committee Chair

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Southern California
United States
Fumio Inagaki

Fumio Inagaki

Advisor

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
Japan
Jeffrey McDonnell

Jeffrey McDonnell

Advisor

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Saskatchewan
Canada
Bénédicte Ménez

Bénédicte Ménez

Advisor

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Institut de physique du globe de Paris
Université de Paris
China
Gordon

Gordon "Oz" Osinski

Advisor

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
Western University
Canada

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars

Jacqueline Goordial

Jacqueline Goordial

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Guelph
Canada
Timothy Goudge

Timothy Goudge

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Texas at Austin
United States
Jihua Hao

Jihua Hao

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
University of Science and Technology of China
China

Related News

crustal water - banner

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science and Exploration

New study reveals Earth’s crust has largest reservoir of water, ahead of ice sheets

New modelling by Earth 4D researchers quantifies salty water reservoirs.

October 01, 2021
Heather G

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science and Exploration

Heather Graham is questioning assumptions about what life can be

She is making sure we can trust future claims of alien life by thinking about how life forms might evolve differently on...

February 03, 2021
Barbara Sherwood Lollar

Award

Earth 4D program co-director Barbara Sherwood Lollar receives Canada’s highest science honour

University of Toronto geochemist is the 2019 recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Enginee...

May 06, 2019
Mars 4D

Earth 4D: Subsurface Science and Exploration

Looking for life under Mars

Researchers say we must “go deeper” on Mars

February 04, 2019
  • Follow Us

Support Us

CIFAR is a registered charitable organization supported by the governments of Canada, Alberta and Quebec, as well as foundations, individuals, corporations and Canadian and international partner organizations.

Donate Now
CIFAR header logo

MaRS Centre, West Tower
661 University Ave., Suite 505
Toronto, ON M5G 1M1 Canada

Contact Us
Media
Careers
Accessibility Policies
Supporters
Financial Reports
Subscribe

  • © Copyright 2023 CIFAR. All Rights Reserved.
  • Charitable Registration Number: 11921 9251 RR0001
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap

Subscribe

Stay up to date on news & ideas from CIFAR.

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.
Accept Learn more