SGER: Geologic Constraints on Life in an Antarctic Sub-ice-shelf Environment

SGER：南极冰架下环境中生命的地质限制

• 批准号: 0624020
• 负责人: Michael McCormick
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Hamilton College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-04-01 至 2007-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0624020&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Geologic; Constraints; Life; Antarctic

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research supports geologic and biologic research on a newly discovered ecosystem underlying the Larsen-B ice shelf, which collapsed catastrophically in 2002. Through a combination of geochemical measurements of the seawater, sediments, and pore waters, and subsequent molecular analyses of the biota, this project will characterize the community and constrain the role of glacial processes in initiating and sustaining it. The system is the first of its type discovered in polar waters. Known to contain at least bivalves and bacterial mats, it raises questions about the nature and extent of life in sub-ice-shelf environments, especially the source of carbon. The marine mud from nearby embayments has very low organic carbon contents, and the overlying ice shelf secluded the ecosystem from open ocean phytoproduction for over 10,000 years. One hypothesis is that organic carbon is supplied by petroliferous glacial till underlying the site, but overall the work has important implications for understanding life in extreme environments such as those that existed during the Snowball Earth period or on icy worlds such as Mars and Titan. In addition, there may be implications for constraining the global methane budget.The broader impacts of this work include support of undergraduate student research and improving societys understanding of the response of life to global climate change.

这项探索性研究的小额赠款支持对拉森-B冰架下新发现的生态系统进行地质和生物研究，该冰架于2002年灾难性地倒塌。通过对海水、沉积物和孔隙沃茨进行地球化学测量，并随后对生物群进行分子分析，该项目将确定生物群的特征，并限制冰川过程在启动和维持生物群方面的作用，该系统是在极地沃茨发现的第一个此类系统。已知至少含有双壳类和细菌垫，它提出了关于冰架下环境中生命的性质和程度的问题，特别是碳的来源。附近海湾的海泥有机碳含量非常低，覆盖的冰架将生态系统与开放的海洋植物生产隔离了10，000多年。一种假设是，有机碳是由该遗址下方的含石油冰川提供的，但总的来说，这项工作对理解极端环境中的生命具有重要意义，例如在雪球地球时期或火星和泰坦等冰冷世界中存在的生命。此外，这一工作还可能对限制全球甲烷预算产生影响，其更广泛的影响包括支持本科生的研究和提高社会对生命对全球气候变化的反应的理解。