Perennial Antarctic lake ice: an oasis for life in a polar desert.
basic_science · Level V
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Abstract
The permanent ice covers of Antarctic lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys develop liquid water inclusions in response to solar heating of internal aeolian-derived sediments. The ice sediment particles serve as nutrient (inorganic and organic)-enriched microzones for the establishment of a physiologically and ecologically complex microbial consortium capable of contemporaneous photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and decomposition. The consortium is capable of physically and chemically establishing and modifying a relatively nutrient- and organic matter-enriched microbial "oasis" embedded in the lake ice cover.
Medical subject headings
- Bacteria
- Ecosystem
- Geologic Sediments
- Ice
- Water Microbiology