EAGER: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Habitability of Antarctic Lakes and Detectability of Microbial Life in Icy Environments by Aautonomous Year-round Instrumentation

渴望：合作研究：南极湖泊的宜居性和通过全年自主仪器检测冰冷环境中微生物生命的能力

• 批准号: 1340905
• 负责人: Peter Doran
• 金额: $ 12.1万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-15 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1340905&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Habitability; Antarctic

EAGER: Collaborative Research: Habitability of Antarctic lakes and detectability of microbial life in icy environments by autonomous year-round instrumentation, is supported by the Antarctic Integrated System Science (AISS) and the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems (AOE) programs within the Antarctic Sciences section in the Division of Polar Programs within the Geosciences Directorate of the National Sciences Foundation (NSF). The funds will allow the measurement of year-round properties of the microbes and the surrounding water in Lake Bonney, a lake with four meters of permanent ice cover over forty meters of liquid water in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. NSF funds will be used to support the deployment, and the science enabled by the deployment, and NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) funds will be used to purchase the equipment.Intellectual Merit: This research will be the first to make year-round measurements of the microbial community, and several associated environmental variables, in the continuously liquid portions of Lake Bonney, Antarctica. Three different types of equipment will be deployed in each of the lobes of Lake Bonney. The first instrument is an ITP (an ice-tethered profiler) that will measure physical parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll throughout the full depth of the liquid water portion of the lake, making measurements at least once each week. The second and third instruments will be used to collect discrete water samples at least every two weeks to determine A) the biological community (assessing metabolic and phylogenetic diversity) and B) the geochemistry (e.g., dissolved organic carbon, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen species). Such samplers have never been used to measure these properties year-round in the Antarctic. Cold temperatures, bottom lake water salinities that are four times greater than the ocean, the thick permanent ice cover, and the lack of sunlight to recharge batteries all present significant challenges for the project, thus classifying the work as an early, high-risk, high-reward activity (the acronym EAGER stands for Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research).Broader Impacts: There is much interest in understanding the ecosystems of the Polar regions in an era of climate change. Logistical limitations dictate much of this work only take place in the summer, until new autonomous technologies can open the door for year-round measurements. This award will be the first to attempt year-round microbial sampling in Antarctica. The McMurdo Dry Valleys region is also the site of a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, and the research conducted on this project with benefit from, and contribute to, the larger LTER project. The instruments used in the project will be purchased by NASA, so two separate agencies have agreed to explore the feasibility of an early stage project. There will be at least three graduate student trained during the project, and the team will also participate in outreach activities at several venues including the Crow Reservation in Montana.

渴望：协作研究：南极湖泊的可居住性以及通过自主环境中的微生物寿命通过自主仪器在冰冷环境中的可探测性得到了南极综合系统科学（AISS）和南极生物系统和生态系统（AOE）计划（AOE）计划中的南极科学课程中的吉尔特（Geosciences）范围内的吉尔西斯（Geosci of National Sci）阶层（National Sci）的基础阶层（Nations Inturns Inturans Sci）的统治者（National Sci）的基础阶层（Nations Inturdres of Calliss Sci）。 这些资金将允许在Bonney湖中测量微生物和周围水的全年特性，这是一个在南极干山谷中的四十米长40米的液态水的湖泊。 NSF funds will be used to support the deployment, and the science enabled by the deployment, and NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) funds will be used to purchase the equipment.Intellectual Merit: This research will be the first to make year-round measurements of the microbial community, and several associated environmental variables, in the continuously liquid portions of Lake Bonney, Antarctica. Bonney湖的每个裂片中将部署三种不同类型的设备。 第一种仪器是ITP（冰螺旋剖面），它将在整个湖泊液态水部分的整个深度中测量物理参数，例如温度，溶解氧和叶绿素，每周至少进行一次测量。 第二和第三仪器将至少每两周一次收集离散的水样品，以确定a）生物群落（评估代谢和系统发育多样性）和b）地球化学（例如，溶解有机碳，并溶解的无机氮种）。此类采样器从未被用来全年在南极中测量这些特性。 寒冷温度，底部湖水盐分比海洋大四倍，厚实的永久冰覆盖以及缺乏阳光来充电电池对该项目面临重大挑战，从而将工作归类为早期，高危，高奖金的活动的挑战气候变化。 后勤局限性决定了这项工作的大部分仅在夏季进行，直到新的自主技术可以为全年测量打开大门。该奖项将是首次尝试在南极洲进行全年微生物采样的奖项。 McMurdo Dry Valleys地区也是一项长期生态研究（LTER）计划的地点，并且对该项目进行了研究，并从中受益并为更大的LTER项目做出了贡献。该项目中使用的工具将由美国国家航空航天局（NASA）购买，因此两个独立的机构同意探索早期项目的可行性。在项目期间，至少有三名研究生培训，该团队还将在包括蒙大拿州的乌鸦保留地在内的多个场所参加外展活动。