Articles | Volume 16, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4033-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4033-2022
Research article
 | 
07 Oct 2022
Research article |  | 07 Oct 2022

Variation in bacterial composition, diversity, and activity across different subglacial basal ice types

Shawn M. Doyle and Brent C. Christner

Related authors

Effects of surface water interactions with karst groundwater on microbial biomass, metabolism, and production
Adrian Barry-Sosa, Madison K. Flint, Justin C. Ellena, Jonathan B. Martin, and Brent C. Christner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-49,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-49, 2024
Short summary
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
The Cryosphere, 12, 3653–3669, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018, 2018
Short summary

Related subject area

Discipline: Glaciers | Subject: Biogeochemistry/Biology
Biogeochemical evolution of ponded meltwater in a High Arctic subglacial tunnel
Ashley J. Dubnick, Rachel L. Spietz, Brad D. Danielson, Mark L. Skidmore, Eric S. Boyd, Dave Burgess, Charvanaa Dhoonmoon, and Martin Sharp
The Cryosphere, 17, 2993–3012, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2993-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2993-2023, 2023
Short summary
Heterogeneous CO2 and CH4 content of glacial meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet and implications for subglacial carbon processes
Andrea J. Pain, Jonathan B. Martin, Ellen E. Martin, Åsa K. Rennermalm, and Shaily Rahman
The Cryosphere, 15, 1627–1644, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1627-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1627-2021, 2021
Short summary
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
The Cryosphere, 12, 3653–3669, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3653-2018, 2018
Short summary

Cited articles

Abyzov, S., Mitskevich, I., and Poglazova, M.: The Microflora of Deep Horizons of the Central Antarctic Ice Sheet, Mikrobiologiya, 67, 547–555, 1998. 
Achberger, A. M., Michaud, A. B., Vick-Majors, T. J., Christner, B. C., Skidmore, M. L., Priscu, J. C., and Tranter, M.: Microbiology of subglacial environments, in: Psychrophiles: from biodiversity to biotechnology, edited by: Margesin, R., Springer, 83–110, ISBN 978-3-319-57056-3, 2017. 
Aciego, S. M., Cuffey, K. M., Kavanaugh, J. L., Morse, D. L., and Severinghaus, J. P.: Pleistocene ice and paleo-strain rates at Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, Quaternary Res., 68, 303–313, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2007.07.013, 2007. 
Amato, P. and Christner, B. C.: Energy Metabolism Response to Low-Temperature and Frozen Conditions in Psychrobacter cryohalolentis, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 75, 711–718, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02193-08, 2009. 
Amato, P., Doyle, S. M., Battista, J. R., and Christner, B. C.: Implications of Subzero Metabolic Activity on Long-Term Microbial Survival in Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Permafrost, Astrobiology, 10, 789–798, https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0477, 2010. 
Download
Short summary
Here we examine the diversity and activity of microbes inhabiting different types of basal ice. We combine this with a meta-analysis to provide a broad overview of the specific microbial lineages enriched in a diverse range of frozen environments. Our results indicate debris-rich basal ice horizons harbor microbes that actively conduct biogeochemical cycling at subzero temperatures and reveal similarities between the microbiomes of basal ice and other permanently frozen environments.