Collaborative Research: Geochemistry and Microbiology of the Extreme Aquatic Environment in Lake Vida, East Antarctica

合作研究：东南极洲维达湖极端水生环境的地球化学和微生物学

• 批准号: 0739681
• 负责人: Alison Murray
• 金额: $ 66.45万
• 依托单位: Nevada System of Higher Education, Desert Research Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-15 至 2013-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0739681&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Geochemistry; Microbiology; Extreme

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) Lake Vida is the largest lake of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, with an approximately 20 m ice cover overlaying a brine of unknown depth with at least 7 times seawater salinity and temperatures below -10 degrees C year-round. Samples of brine collected from ice above the main water body contain 1) the highest nitrous oxide levels of any natural water body on Earth, 2) unusual geochemistry including anomalously high ammonia and iron concentrations, 3) high microbial counts with an unusual proportion (99%) of ultramicrobacteria. The microbial community is unique even compared to other Dry Valley Lakes. The research proposes to enter, for the first time the main brine body below the thick ice of Lake Vida and perform in situ measurements, collect samples of the brine column, and collect sediment cores from the lake bottom for detailed geochemical and microbiological analyses. The results will allow the characterization of present and past life in the lake, assessment of modern and past sedimentary processes, and determination of the lake's history. The research will be conducted by a multidisciplinary team that will uncover the biogeochemical processes associated with a non-photosynthetic microbial community isolated for a significant period of time. This research will address diversity, adaptive mechanisms and evolutionary processes in the context of the physical evolution of the environment of Lake Vida. Results will be widely disseminated through publications, presentations at national and international meetings, through the Subglacial Antarctic Lake Exploration (SALE) web site and the McMurdo LTER web site. The research will support three graduate students and three undergraduate research assistants. The results will be incorporated into a new undergraduate biogeosciences course at the University of Illinois at Chicago which has an extremely diverse student body, dominated by minorities.

该奖项是根据2009年的《美国复苏和再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的维达湖是麦克穆尔多干山谷中最大的湖泊，大约20 m的冰盖覆盖了一个未知深度的盐水，至少7倍的海水盐分，海水盐分和温度低于-10摄氏度。从主要水体上方收集的盐水样品中，地球上任何天然水体的一氧化二氮水平最高，2）不寻常的地球化学，包括异常高的氨和铁浓度，3）高微生物计数，具有不寻常的超肉毒杆菌比例（99％）。即使与其他干谷湖相比，微生物社区也是独一无二的。该研究建议，首次进入维达湖厚冰以下的主要盐水，并进行原位测量，收集盐水柱的样品，并从湖底收集沉积物核心，以进行详细的地球化学和微生物学分析。结果将使湖中现在和过去的生活，现代和过去沉积过程的评估以及湖泊历史的确定。这项研究将由一个多学科团队进行，该团队将揭示与在很长一段时间内隔离的非摩尔合成微生物群落相关的生物地球化学过程。这项研究将在维达湖环境的物理演变中解决多样性，适应性机制和进化过程。结果将通过出版物，在国家和国际会议上的演讲，通过冰山冰南极探索（销售）网站和McMurdo LTER网站广泛传播。该研究将支持三名研究生和三名本科研究助理。结果将纳入芝加哥伊利诺伊大学的新本科生物科学课程中，该课程的学生团体极为多样化，以少数群体为主。