EAGER: Elucidating the Antarctic Methane Cycle at the Cinder Cones Reducing Habitat.

甲烷是一种强有力的温室气体，通过地质渗漏和微生物生产自然排放到海洋中。基于对中北纬地区持续深海渗漏的研究，研究人员了解到，细菌和古生菌可以创建一种“沉积物过滤器”，在甲烷释放之前将其氧化。人们认为南极洲冰下埋藏着大量的有机碳，这可能相当于北极所有永冻土的甲烷含量，但我们对这一地区的甲烷氧化微生物几乎一无所知。这些微生物群落是如何发展的，并可能对甲烷水平的波动做出反应，这是一个未被充分探索的研究途径。最近在南纬78度处发现了一块细菌垫，这表明可能存在甲烷渗漏，以及相关的微生物群落。该项目将详细探索这一环境，以评估甲烷的水平和来源，以及目前微生物生态系统的性质。2011年，在南纬78度的地方出现和/或发现了一个巨大的细菌垫。这个地点位于南极洲麦克默多站附近，自20世纪60年代中期以来一直有人参观，但直到2011年才有人观察到这个垫子。这一地点的发现为研究具有活跃甲烷循环的南极海洋底栖动物栖息地提供了一个不同寻常的机会，并研究了渗漏动物包括细菌、古细菌、原生动物和后生动物的补充和群落演替的动态。该项目将收集必要的基线数据，以便进一步研究南极甲烷循环。甲烷的浓度和来源将在这个地点和麦克默多海湾潜在的类似地点确定。除了地点的生物地球化学特征外，对微生物群落的分子分析将量化细菌和古菌对甲烷输入作出反应的时间尺度，并提供关于南大洋群落发展和演替速度的信息。项目活动将促进至少一名研究生的培训，并将在当地和国际两级分享成果。一名女研究生将作为该项目的一部分接受指导，收集的数据将成为她论文的一部分。将在俄勒冈州的K-12教室进行讲座，以激发学生对极地科学的兴趣。将通过博客和在科学会议上的演讲接触到国内和国际观众。PI之前的博客已经被K-12课堂作为他们课程计划的一部分使用，并在超过65个国家被跟踪。

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is naturally emitted into the oceans by geologic seeps and microbial production. Based on studies of persistent deep-sea seeps at mid- and northern latitudes, researchers have learned that bacteria and archaea can create a "sediment filter" that oxidizes methane prior to its release. Antarctica is thought to contain large reservoirs of organic carbon buried beneath its ice which could a quantity of methane equivalent to all of the permafrost in the Arctic and yet we know almost nothing about the methane oxidizing microbes in this region. How these microbial communities develop and potentially respond to fluctuations in methane levels is an under-explored avenue of research. A bacterial mat was recently discovered at 78 degrees south, suggesting the possible presence of a methane seep, and associated microbial communities. This project will explore this environment in detail to assess the levels and origin of methane, and the nature of the microbial ecosystem present. An expansive bacterial mat appeared and/or was discovered at 78 degrees south in 2011. This site, near McMurdo Station Antarctica, has been visited since the mid-1960s, but this mat was not observed until 2011. The finding of this site provides an unusual opportunity to study an Antarctic marine benthic habitat with active methane cycling and to examine the dynamics of recruitment and community succession of seep fauna including bacteria, archaea, protists and metazoans. This project will collect the necessary baseline data to facilitate further studies of Antarctic methane cycling. The concentration and source of methane will be determined at this site and at potentially analogous sites in McMurdo Sound. In addition to biogeochemical characterization of the sites, molecular analysis of the microbial community will quantify the time scales on which bacteria and archaea respond to methane input and provide information on rates of community development and succession in the Southern Ocean. Project activities will facilitate the training of at least one graduate student and results will be shared at both local and international levels. A female graduate student will be mentored as part of this project and data collected will form part of her dissertation. Lectures will be given in K-12 classrooms in Oregon to excite students about polar science. National and international audiences will be reached through blogs and presentations at a scientific conference. The PI's previous blogs have been used by K-12 classrooms as part of their lesson plans and followed in over 65 countries.