| Title | Low-temperature sulfidic-ice microbial communities, Borup Fiord Pass, Canadian high arctic |
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| Author | Trivedi, C B; Lau, G E; Grasby, S E ; Templeton, A S; Spear, J R |
| Source | Frontiers in microbiology vol. 9, 1622, 2018 p. 1-16, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01622  Open Access |
| Year | 2018 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20180202 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf (Adobe® Reader®); docx (Microsoft® Word); xlsx (Microsoft® Excel®) |
| Province | Nunavut |
| NTS | 340B/15; 340B/16; 340C/01; 340C/02 |
| Area | Canadian Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Borup Fiord Pass |
| Lat/Long WENS | -84.0000 -80.0000 81.2500 80.7500 |
| Subjects | environmental geology; extraterrestrial geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; geochemistry; glaciers; springs; aufeis; sulphur; microorganisms; water geochemistry; minerals; precipitates; spring
precipitate geochemistry; sulphates; chloride; salinity; oxidation; ecology; cold regions research; Sulfurimonas; Sulfurovum; Sulfuricurvum; Flavobacterium; Desulfocapsa; Microbiology |
| Illustrations | location maps; photographs; satellite images; tables; geochemical plots; bar graphs |
| Program | GEM2: Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Western Arctic, High Arctic LIP |
| Released | 2018 07 24 |
| Abstract | A sulfur-dominated supraglacial spring system found at Borup Fiord Pass (BFP), Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, is a unique sulfur-on-ice system expressed along the toe of a glacier. BFP has an
intermittent flowing, subsurface-derived, glacial spring that creates a large white-yellow icing (aufeis) that extends down-valley. Over field campaigns in 2014, 2016, and 2017, numerous samples were collected and analyzed for both microbial
community composition and aqueous geochemistry. Samples were collected from multiple site types: spring discharge fluid, aufeis (spring-derived ice), melt pools with sedimented cryoconite material, and mineral precipitate scrapings, to probe how
microbial communities differed between site types in a dynamic freeze/thaw sulfur-rich system. Dissolved sulfate varied between 0.07 and 11.6mM and was correlated with chloride concentrations, where the fluids were saltiest among spring fluids. The
highest sulfate samples exhibited high dissolved sulfide values between 0.22 and 2.25mM. 16S rRNA gene sequencing from melt pool and aufeis samples from the 2014 campaign were highly abundant in operational taxonomic units (OTUs) closely related to
sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms (SOM; Sulfurimonas, Sulfurovum, and Sulfuricurvum). Subsequent sampling 2 weeks later had fewer SOMs and showed an increased abundance of the genus Flavobacterium. Desulfocapsa, an organism that specializes in the
disproportionation of inorganic sulfur compounds was also found. Samples from 2016 and 2017 revealed that microorganisms present were highly similar in community composition to 2014 samples, primarily echoed by the continued presence of
Flavobacterium sp. Results suggest that while there may be acute events where sulfur cycling organisms dominate, a basal community structure appears to dominate over time and site type. These results further enhance our knowledge of low-temperature
sulfur systems on Earth, and help to guide the search for potential life on extraterrestrial worlds, such as Europa, where similar low-temperature sulfur-rich conditions may exist. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
A serendipitous discovery of the GEM HALIP field program was a unique sulphur-glacial system, where a sulphur rich spring discharges through glacial ice
and deposits elemental sulphur and other minerals, turning the glacier yellow. This site challenges many conceptions on permafrost hydrogeology and has also drawn interest of NASA who see it as the bet terrestrial analogue for the sulphur covered ice
surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. To understand potential for life in such unique and extreme environments a study was done to characterise the microbial ecology of the site. Results show a complex community of microbes are utilising the sulphur rich
spring water. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 311087 |
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