@article{5719daa68183483da8fbeec73c4668a9,
title = "A microbial ecosystem beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet",
abstract = "Liquid water has been known to occur beneath the Antarctic ice sheet for more than 40 years, but only recently have these subglacial aqueous environments been recognized as microbial ecosystems that may influence biogeochemical transformations on a global scale. Here we present the first geomicrobiological description of water and surficial sediments obtained from direct sampling of a subglacial Antarctic lake. Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW) lies beneath approximately 800 m of ice on the lower portion of the Whillans Ice Stream (WIS) in West Antarctica and is part of an extensive and evolving subglacial drainage network. The water column of SLW contained metabolically active microorganisms and was derived primarily from glacial ice melt with solute sources from lithogenic weathering and a minor seawater component. Heterotrophic and autotrophic production data together with small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and biogeochemical data indicate that SLW is a chemosynthetically driven ecosystem inhabited by a diverse assemblage of bacteria and archaea. Our results confirm that aquatic environments beneath the Antarctic ice sheet support viable microbial ecosystems, corroborating previous reports suggesting that they contain globally relevant pools of carbon and microbes that can mobilize elements from the lithosphere and influence Southern Ocean geochemical and biological systems.",
author = "{The WISSARD Science Team} and Christner, {Brent C.} and Priscu, {John C.} and Achberger, {Amanda M.} and Carlo Barbante and Carter, {Sasha P.} and Knut Christianson and Michaud, {Alexander B.} and Mikucki, {Jill A.} and Mitchell, {Andrew C.} and Skidmore, {Mark L.} and Vick-Majors, {Trista J.} and Adkins, {W. P.} and S. Anandakrishnan and S. Anandakrishnan and L. Beem and A. Behar and M. Beitch and R. Bolsey and C. Branecky and A. Fisher and N. Foley and Mankoff, {K. D.} and D. Sampson and S. Tulaczyk and R. Edwards and S. Kelley and J. Sherve and Fricker, {H. A.} and S. Siegfried and B. Guthrie and Timothy Hodson and R. Powell and R. Scherer and H. Horgan and R. Jacobel and E. McBryan and A. Purcell",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements The Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project was funded by National Science Foundation grants (0838933, 0838896, 0838941, 0839142, 0839059, 0838885, 0838855, 0838763, 0839107, 0838947, 0838854, 0838764 and 1142123) from the Division of Polar Programs. Partial support was also provided by funds from NSF award 1023233 (B.C.C.), NSF award 1115245 (J.C.P.), the NSF{\textquoteright}s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (1247192; A.M.A.), the Italian National Antarctic Program (C.B.), and fellowships from the NSF{\textquoteright}s IGERT Program (0654336) and the Montana Space Grant Consortium (A.B.M.). Logisticswere provided bythe 139thExpeditionary Airlift Squadronof the NewYork Air National Guard, Kenn Borek Air, and by many dedicated individuals working as part of the Antarctic Support Contractor, managed by Lockheed-Martin. The drilling was directedbyF.Rack;D.Blythe,J.Burnett,C.Carpenter,D.Duling(chiefdriller),D.Gibson, J. Lemery, A. Melby and G. Roberts provided drill support at SLW. L. Geng, B. Vandenheuvel, A. Schauer and E. Steig provided assistance with the stable isotopic analyses. We thank J. Dore for assistance with the nutrient analysis.",
year = "2014",
month = aug,
day = "21",
doi = "10.1038/nature13667",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "512",
pages = "310--313",
journal = "Nature",
issn = "0028-0836",
publisher = "Nature Research",
number = "7514",
}