Microbial processes in the weathering crust aquifer of a temperate glacier

Christner, Brent C.; Lavender, Heather F.; Davis, Christina L.; Oliver, Erin E.; Neuhaus, Sarah U.; Myers, Krista F.; Hagedorn, Birgit; Tulaczyk, Slawek M.; Doran, Peter T.; Stone, William C.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018

Articles | Volume 12, issue 11

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 12, issue 11

Research article

|

26 Nov 2018

Research article |

| 26 Nov 2018

Microbial processes in the weathering crust aquifer of a temperate glacier

Brent C. Christner, Heather F. Lavender, Christina L. Davis, Erin E. Oliver, Sarah U. Neuhaus, Krista F. Myers, Birgit Hagedorn, Slawek M. Tulaczyk, Peter T. Doran, and William C. Stone

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Final revised paper (published on 26 Nov 2018)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 08 Aug 2018)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'Review of Christner et al.', Anonymous Referee #1, 04 Sep 2018
- AC1: 'Response to review Reviewer 1', Brent Christner, 29 Oct 2018
RC2: 'Review of Christner et al. TC - WCA paper', Anonymous Referee #2, 09 Sep 2018
- AC2: 'Response to review Reviewer 2', Brent Christner, 29 Oct 2018

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Brent Christner on behalf of the Authors (29 Oct 2018)

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (03 Nov 2018) by Jürg Schweizer

AR by Brent Christner on behalf of the Authors (05 Nov 2018) Author's response Manuscript

Short summary

Solar radiation that penetrates into the glacier heats the ice to produce nutrient-containing meltwater and provides light that fuels an ecosystem within the ice. Our analysis documents a near-surface photic zone in a glacier that functions as a liquid water oasis in the ice over half the annual cycle. Since microbial growth on glacier surfaces reduces the amount of solar radiation reflected, microbial processes at depths below the surface may also darken ice and accelerate meltwater production.