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oa Steroid Biomarkers from Ephemeral Microbial Oases on an Antarctic Ice Shelf
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, IMOG 2023, Sep 2023, Volume 2023, p.1 - 2
Abstract
Each warm season, meltwater ponds form upon the debris-covered ice shelves located off the coast of Antarctica’s Bratina Island. The ponds, scattered irregularly across the landscape, constitute an ephemeral environment with rich microbial communities whose compositions are stable long-term ( Jungblut 2007 ; Jungblut et al., 2009 ). Though the meltwater ponds form in close proximity, their physicochemical conditions can vastly differ, and, as a result, they each host distinct microbial assemblages ( Evans et al., 2022 ; Jungblut et al., 2009 ; Jungblut 2007 ). Such environments may serve as analogs to ancient refugia during periods of Earth history characterized by planet-scale glaciations such as the Cryogenian ( Hawes et al., 2018 ; Evans et al., 2022 ).
