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可居住环境的范围知之甚少。该项目将描述格陵兰东北部2537米深冰芯基底冰的地球化学和微生物（细菌和病毒）特性。冰核项目由丹麦尼尔斯玻尔研究所的冰与气候中心领导，并得到了NSF和其他12个伙伴国家的资金支持。2.3米的基底冰序列包含12个离散的富含碎屑的冰层，中间是干净的（碎屑贫乏的冰）。富含碎屑的地层反映了与冰盖床的相互作用以及基底碎屑的结合。该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地球化学风化过程，以及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塞尔自由大学的结果相结合，在那里将分析冰的物理结构和可能反映生物活动的截留气体的数据。这项研究对于理解在光独立的寒冷生态系统中地球化学和生物学之间的界面具有更广泛的意义，这些生态系统由地球化学循环支持，这些循环在延长（10，000年）的时间内几乎孤立地运行。这些系统被认为是类似于那些下劳伦蒂德中纬度冰盖和普遍的低纬度冰川在新元古代，所谓的？雪球地球？拟议的研究将通过NEEM整体合作伙伴关系中的国际合作者网络加强研究和教育基础设施。该研究包括一名新的NSF调查员，并将为博士后研究人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质。PI打算在“将部落学院与密歇根州立大学联系起来”项目中担任导师，监督蒙大拿部落学院的暑期研究生。他还积极作为蒙大拿州学徒计划（MAP）在密歇根州立大学，旨在增加美国原住民和弱势高中学生谁想要追求在干领域的职业生涯的数量讲师。项目成员将与蒙大拿州中南部乌鸦保留地的教师和学生建立持续的伙伴关系。乌鸦教育伙伴关系，独立资助的小联邦和私人赠款，每月提供科学丰富的活动，四年级的学生和他们的教师在三所学校的乌鸦保留。

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.