NEEM basal ice, assessing the attributes of a cold, deep, dark ecosystem

人们对格陵兰冰盖下微生物的多样性和一系列宜居环境知之甚少。该项目将对格陵兰岛东北部2537米深的冰芯的基础冰的地球化学和微生物(细菌和病毒)特性进行表征。冰芯项目由丹麦尼尔斯·玻尔研究所的冰与气候中心领导，NSF和其他12个伙伴国提供资金支持。2.3米的基础冰层包含12个离散的富含碎屑的冰层，中间有干净的(贫碎的冰)。富含碎屑的层反映了与冰盖床的相互作用，以及底部碎屑的并入。这项研究有三个主要目标：1)表征微生物群落的细胞密度和系统发育多样性；2)确定冰下环境中可能发生的生物地球化学风化过程；3)模拟这些测量参数之间的相互作用。这项工作将与比利时布鲁克塞尔大学的结果相结合，在那里将分析关于冰的物理结构和可能反映生物活动的被困气体的数据。这项研究对于理解光独立的寒冷生态系统中的地球化学和生物学之间的界面具有更广泛的影响，这些生态系统得到生物地球化学循环的支持，这些生物地球化学循环在较长(10000年)的时间段内几乎孤立地运行。这些系统被认为类似于劳伦蒂中纬度冰盖下的系统，以及新元古代普遍存在的低纬冰川期间的系统，即所谓的雪球地球。拟议中的研究将通过整个NEEM伙伴关系中的国际合作者网络来加强研究和教育的基础设施。这项研究包括一名新的NSF研究员，并将为一名博士后研究员和本科生提供培训，他们将受益于该项目的多学科和国际性。该协会打算在“部落学院与密歇根州立大学之间的桥梁”项目中担任导师，指导蒙大拿州部落学院的暑期研究学生。他还积极担任密歇根州立大学蒙大拿州学徒计划(MAP)的讲师，该计划旨在增加希望在STEM领域从事职业生涯的美国原住民和弱势高中生的数量。项目成员将与蒙大拿州中南部的乌鸦保护区的教师和学生建立持续的伙伴关系。乌鸦教育伙伴关系由联邦和私人小额赠款独立资助，每月为乌鸦保护区三所学校的四年级学生和他们的老师提供科学丰富活动。

Little is known about the diversity of microorganisms and range of habitable environments that exist beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet. This project will characterize geochemical and microbial (bacterial and viral) properties of basal ice from a 2537 m deep ice core in North Eastern Greenland (NEEM). The ice core project is led by the Center of Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark with funding support from NSF and 12 other partner nations. The 2.3 m basal ice sequence contains 12 discrete debris-rich ice layers, with intervening clean (debris-poor ice). The debris-rich layers reflect interaction with the ice-sheet bed, and the incorporation of basal debris. The research has three primary objectives: 1) Characterize the cell density and phylogenetic diversity of the microbial community, 2) Determine likely biogeochemical weathering processes occurring in the subglacial environment, and 3) Model the interaction between these measured parameters. This work will integrate with results from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, where data on the physical structure of the ice and the entrapped gases, which may reflect biogenic activity, will be analyzed. This research has broader implications for understanding the interface between geochemistry and biology in light independent, cold ecosystems that are supported by biogeochemical cycles that operate in near isolation for extended (10,000 yrs) periods of time. These are systems that are thought to be analogous to those beneath the Laurentide mid- latitude ice sheets and during pervasive low-latitude glaciations in the Neoproterozoic, the so called ?Snowball Earth?.The proposed research will enhance Infrastructure for research and education through a network of international collaborators in the overall NEEM partnership. The research includes a new NSF investigator and will provide training for a postdoctoral researcher and undergraduate student who will benefit from the multidisciplinary and international nature of the project. The PI intends to work as a mentor in the program "Bridging Tribal Colleges to MSU", supervising summer research students from Montana Tribal Colleges. He is also active as a lecturer in the Montana Apprenticeship Program (MAP) at MSU, which aims to increase the number of Native American and disadvantaged high school students who want to pursue careers in STEM fields. Project members will engage in an ongoing partnership with teachers and students on the Crow Reservation in south-central Montana. The Crow Education Partnership, independently funded with small federal and private grants, provides monthly science enrichment activities to fourth grade students and their teachers in three schools on the Crow Reservation.