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    A microbial ecosystem beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet

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    Date
    2014
    Author
    Priscu, John C.
    Christner, Brent C.
    Achberger, Amanda M.
    Barbante, Carlo
    Carter, Sasha
    Christianson, Knut
    Michaud, Alexander B.
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    Abstract
    Liquid water has been known to occur beneath the Antarctic ice sheet for more than 40 years1, but only recently have these subglacial aqueous environments been recognized as microbial ecosystems that may influence biogeochemical transformations on a global scale2, 3, 4. Here we present the first geomicrobiological description of water and surficial sediments obtained from direct sampling of a subglacial Antarctic lake. Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW) lies beneath approximately 800 m of ice on the lower portion of the Whillans Ice Stream (WIS) in West Antarctica and is part of an extensive and evolving subglacial drainage network5. The water column of SLW contained metabolically active microorganisms and was derived primarily from glacial ice melt with solute sources from lithogenic weathering and a minor seawater component. Heterotrophic and autotrophic production data together with small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and biogeochemical data indicate that SLW is a chemosynthetically driven ecosystem inhabited by a diverse assemblage of bacteria and archaea. Our results confirm that aquatic environments beneath the Antarctic ice sheet support viable microbial ecosystems, corroborating previous reports suggesting that they contain globally relevant pools of carbon and microbes2, 4 that can mobilize elements from the lithosphere6 and influence Southern Ocean geochemical and biological systems7.
    URI
    https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/8712
    DOI
    10.1038/nature13667
    Citation
    Christner, Brent C., John C. Priscu, Amanda M. Achberger, Carlo Barbante, Sasha P. Carter, Knut Christianson, Alexander B. Michaud et al. "A microbial ecosystem beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet." Nature 512, no. 7514 (2014): 310-313.
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