They are virtually struggling for survival - focused more on simply maintaining their ability to metabolize food rather than reproduction. Delwiche's objective was to obtain samples, and transport them intact, frozen and uncontaminated, back to the lab for analysis. He collected samples of sea water and drilling fluids as controls to verify that his samples were not contaminated during the drilling process. Little is known about methanogens and methane hydrates, despite the fact that oil and gas companies have been aware of their existence for decades. Deep subsurface samples such as those collected on this expedition are very difficult and expensive to obtain and are a constant limiting factor in research.
Researchers hope to answer two questions through their work.
One of the first steps will be to count the numbers of microorganisms in the samples. This will give researchers insight into what substrates and temperatures the microorganisms prefer. Methanogens appear to be capable of surviving in very extreme conditions, but how much methane gas and how fast they produce it still elude researchers. If you wish to quote from any part of this story, please credit Idaho National Engineering And Environmental Laboratory as the original source.