Geomicrobiology of Antarctic Subglacial Environments - Subglacial Lake Whillans
Citation
Priscu J (2019). Geomicrobiology of Antarctic Subglacial Environments - Subglacial Lake Whillans. Version 1.1. SCAR - Microbial Antarctic Resource System. Metadata dataset https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13667 accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-09-04.Description
Liquid water has been known to occur beneath the Antarctic ice sheet for more than 40 years,but only recently have these subglacial aqueous environments been recognized as microbial ecosystems that may influence biogeochemical transformations on a global scale. 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 800m 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 network. 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 microbes that can mobilize elements from the lithosphere and influence Southern Ocean geochemical and biological systems.Sampling Description
Study Extent
See Geographic CoverageSampling
Water samples were collected and brought to the surface in Niskin bottles. Particulate matter for DNA sequence analyses was collected on 10.0, 3.0, 0.8, and 0.2 micron filters by an in situ filtration unit. Sediment samples were collected and brought to the surface using a shallow sediment multicorer. See Christner, et al 2014 for details.Quality Control
Paired end sequence reads were assembled and quality filtered using the Mothur phylogenetic analysis pipeline (v1.33.2). The sequences were aligned with the SILVA Incremental Aligner47 (SINA v1.2.11; database release 115). The aligned reads were checked for chimaeras using the Uchime algorithm, as implemented within Mothur, and chimaeric sequences were removed from the data. Sequences with >97% SSU rRNA gene sequence similarity were clustered into an OTU and representative sequences for each OTU were chosen for classification using the SILVA database.Method steps
- Descriptions can be found in Christner et al., 2014. Detailed geochemical methods can be found at http://www.geosociety.org/datarepository/2016/2016110.pdf and https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2992#methods and https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01705/full Further detailed methods for microbial community composition can be found at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01457/full#h3
Taxonomic Coverages
Planktonic microbial cells were collected on 0.2, 0.8, 3.0, and 10.0 micron filters and community structure was determined from 16S rRNA gene identities. Microbial community structure was also determined for samples from a shallow sediment core (0-40 cm).
-
Bacteriarank: domain
-
Archaearank: domain
Geographic Coverages
Samples were collected from Subglacial Lake Whillans, at the lower portion of the Whillans Ice Stream, West Antarctica. Samples were collected through a 800m borehole created with a clean, hot water drill system.
Bibliographic Citations
- Michaud AB, Skidmore ML, Mitchell AC, Vick-Majors TJ, Barbante C, Turetta C, vanGelder W, Priscu JC. 2016. Solute sources and geochemical processes in Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica. Geology. 44:347-350. - https://doi.org/10.1130/G37639.1
- Michaud AB, Dore JE, Achberger AM, Christner BC, Mitchell AC, Skidmore ML, Vick-Majors TJ, Priscu JC. 2017. Microbial oxidation as a methane sink beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Nature Geoscience. 10:582-586. - doi:10.1038/ngeo2992
- Achberger AM, Christner BC, Michaud AB, Priscu JC, Skidmore ML, Vick-Majors TJ, and the WISSARD Science Team. 2016. Microbial Community Structure of Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica. Frontiers in Microbiology. 7:1457. - doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01457
- Vick-Majors TJ, Mitchell AC, Achberger AM, Christner BC, Dore JE, Michaud AB, Mikucki JA, Purcell AM, Skidmore ML, Priscu JC, and The WISSARD Science Team. 2016. Physiological Ecology of Microorganisms in Subglacial Lake Whillans. Frontiers in Microbiology. 7:1705. - doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01705
- Christner, B. C., Priscu, J. C., Achberger, A. M., Barbante, C., Carter, S. P., Christianson, K., ... & Vick-Majors, T. J. (2014). A microbial ecosystem beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet. Nature, 512(7514), 310. -
Contacts
John Priscuoriginator
position: Professor
Montana State University
334 Leon Johnson Hall
Bozeman
59717
US
Telephone: 4069943250
email: jpriscu@montana.edu
John Priscu
metadata author
position: Professor
Montana State University
334 Leon Johnson Hall
Bozeman
59717
US
Telephone: 4069943250
email: jpriscu@montana.edu
John Priscu
principal investigator
position: Professor
Montana State University
334 Leon Johnson Hall
Bozeman
59717
US
Telephone: 4069943250
email: jpriscu@montana.edu
homepage: http://www.montana.edu/priscu/
Brent Christner
principal investigator
position: Associate Professor
Louisiana State University
282 Life Sciences Building
Baton Rouge
70803
LA
US
Telephone: 2255781734
email: xner@lsu.edu
homepage: http://brent.xner.net
Mark Skidmore
principal investigator
position: Associate Professor
Montana State University
627 Leon Johnson Hall
Bozeman
59717
MT
US
Telephone: 4069947251
email: skidmore@montana.edu
homepage: http://www.montana.edu/wwwes/facstaff/skidmore.htm
John Priscu
administrative point of contact
position: Professor
Montana State University
334 Leon Johnson Hall
Bozeman
59717
US
Telephone: 4069943250
email: jpriscu@montana.edu