Subsurface Habitats
Key Types
By type of medium:
- subterranean
- underwater
- under the seabed
By time/period of habitation:
- opportunistic/occasional
- temporary
- long-term
- permanent
By mode of production:
- naturally formed: caves, underground rivers
- artificially constructed: excavated, covered
Nonhuman
On subterranean biology, see:
Mammola, Stefano, Isabel R. Amorim, Maria E. Bichuette, Paulo A. V. Borges, Naowarat Cheeptham, Steven J. B. Cooper, David C. Culver, et al. “Fundamental Research Questions in Subterranean Biology.” Biological Reviews 95, no. 6 (2020): 1855–72. https://doi.org/10/gkkv26.
- worms
- bacteria
- fungi
- roots of plants
- small mammals
In the water there is much more abundance as more species and biomass exist in the water:
- fish
- plants
- other marine and riverine life
- plankton
- large mammals
Human
Subsurface Engineering
Issues:
- costs
- effort and resources required
- available technologies and methods including the use of machinery and robotics
Subsurface:
Using earth and water as building materials (possible extension of the concept):
- earth architecture
- ice and snow as building materials
References
An overview of human cultural relationships with the underground world including it formation and implications for nonhuman lives:
Macfarlane, Robert. Underland: A Deep Time Journey. New York: W. W. Norton, 2019.
Example of current issues in urban subterranean spaces:
Garrett, Bradley, Maria de Lourdes Melo Zurita, and Kurt Iveson. ‘Boring Cities: The Privatisation of Subterranea’. City 24, no. 1–2 (2020): 276–85. https://doi.org/10/gpr4gd.
On regulatory issues:
Goldhill, Simon, and Georgie Fitzgibbon. ‘Climate Policy, Regulation and Governance: Introduction’. Journal of the British Academy 9s10 (2021): 1–5. https://doi.org/10/gpr4hm.
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