 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Bacteria thriving beneath Antarctic glacier: study
Washington (AFP) April 16, 2009 Scientists have uncovered an ancient ecosystem below an Antarctic glacier that survived millions of years in cold brine without light or oxygen, a study said Thursday. Because the ecosystem was isolated for so long in extreme conditions, it could shed light on possible extraterrestrial life and how systems can survive under ice, said longtime Antarctic researcher and Montana State University professor John Priscu, a co-author of the study. A thick ice crust has formed on Mars and Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, home to expansive oceans with frozen surfaces where lifeforms may have developed. The Antarctic ecosystem contained bacteria that thrive in cold, salty water and survived by transforming sulfur and ion compounds for growth, according to the study published in Friday's edition of Science. The pool of brine, trapped below Taylor Glacier and next to frozen Lake Bonney in eastern Antarctica, averaged 14 degrees Fahrenheit (negative 10 degrees Celsius). But it did not freeze because the water was three or four times saltier than the ocean. The ecosystem has the "potential to be a modern analog to what geochemistry and biogeochemistry was like millions of years ago," said Jill Mikucki, the study's lead author. Large ice sheets covered the planet during the "Snowball Earth" period. The researchers used biogeochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology techniques to determine how the ecosystem could survive without photosynthesis. They found the bacteria when investigating Blood Falls, blood-red waters that flow from Taylor Glacier. The falls owe their red color to an iron-rich pool, according to the scientists. The most common bacteria in the brine pool was the Thiomicrospira arctica. Estimated at less than three miles (4.8 kilometers) wide, the pool is believed to be a remnant of an ancient ocean trapped at least 1.5 million years ago when Taylor Glacier displaced Lake Bonney. Priscu said the researchers could not reach the pool because it lies too far away -- about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) -- from the snout of the glacier, itself too thick to drill. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
How Life Shatters The Chemistry Mirror
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2009All of us are left-handed. At least, the bits that make up our proteins are. This is surprising since Nature is predominantly ambidextrous when it comes to assembling these molecules from scratch. Some scientists argue that left-handedness was handed down to us from space, but others say it just happened by chance in some little nook on the primordial Earth. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook