Dantheman62
04-16-2009, 10:41 PM
A living time capsule of sorts has been found buried under hundreds of feet of Antarctic ice - a colony of microbes that have been sealed off from the rest of the world for more than 1.5 million years.
The finding, detailed in the April 17 issue of the journal Science, could serve as a model for how life might survive on icy planets elsewhere in the galaxy.
The microbes, which live without light or oxygen, were detected in meltwater flowing out from Taylor Glacier, one of the outlet glaciers of the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d/31682331/SIG=11dgapi2o/*http://www.livescience.com/topic/antarctica) in the otherwise ice-free McMurdo Dry Valleys.
The Dry Valleys are considered one of Earth's most extreme deserts (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d/31682331/SIG=127ktg7l2/*http://www.livescience.com/php/trivia/index.php?quiz=continental-extr), devoid of animals and complex plants.
Scientists took water samples from Blood Falls (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d/31682331/SIG=1cq2cvqmu/*http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=strangenews&c=news&l=&pic=090416-blood-falls-02.jpg&cap=Iron+oxides+stain+the+snout+of+the+Taylor+Glac ier%2C+McMurdo+Dry+Valleys%2C+Antarctica%2C%0D+for ming+a+feature+commonly+referred+to+as+Blood+Falls .+The+iron+originates+from+ancient%0D+subglacial+b rine+that+episodically+discharges+to+the+surface.+ Credit%3A+Benjamin+Urmston&title=), a curious blood-red waterfall-like feature that sporadically flows from the edge of Taylor Glacier.
Analyses revealed that the glacier water held microorganisms that use sulfur compounds to extract iron in the bedrock below the glacier (this iron also accounts for the rusty hue of the water).
"When I started running the chemical analysis on [the samples], there was no oxygen. That was when this got really interesting, it was a real 'eureka' moment," said researcher Jill Mikucki, who conducted the research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, while a graduate student at Montana State University and a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University. She currently works at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
"It's a bit like finding a forest that nobody has seen for 1.5 million years," said study team member Ann Pearson of Harvard. "Intriguingly, the species living there are similar to contemporary organisms, and yet quite different - a result, no doubt, of having lived in such an inhospitable environment for so long."
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090416/capt.943cffc0168343bcbcc5ea84042dff76.blood_falls_ bacteria_wx109.jpg?x=213&y=160&xc=1&yc=1&wc=409&hc=307&q=85&sig=gPRhkbtUNv0nqK1jPR7CXw-- (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Taylor-Glacier/photo//090416/481/943cffc0168343bcbcc5ea84042dff76//s:/livescience/20090416/sc_livescience/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d;_ylt=AnHeUu_yk7HuLarJY4NVcbWzvtEF;_ylu=X3oDMTE5c nVkNWY4BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9yX3RvcF9waG90bwRzbGsDdGh pc3VuZGF0ZWRo)AP – This undated handout photo provided by the journal Science shows Iron oxides stain the snout of the Taylor …
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090416/sc_livescience/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d
The finding, detailed in the April 17 issue of the journal Science, could serve as a model for how life might survive on icy planets elsewhere in the galaxy.
The microbes, which live without light or oxygen, were detected in meltwater flowing out from Taylor Glacier, one of the outlet glaciers of the vast East Antarctic Ice Sheet (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d/31682331/SIG=11dgapi2o/*http://www.livescience.com/topic/antarctica) in the otherwise ice-free McMurdo Dry Valleys.
The Dry Valleys are considered one of Earth's most extreme deserts (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d/31682331/SIG=127ktg7l2/*http://www.livescience.com/php/trivia/index.php?quiz=continental-extr), devoid of animals and complex plants.
Scientists took water samples from Blood Falls (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d/31682331/SIG=1cq2cvqmu/*http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=strangenews&c=news&l=&pic=090416-blood-falls-02.jpg&cap=Iron+oxides+stain+the+snout+of+the+Taylor+Glac ier%2C+McMurdo+Dry+Valleys%2C+Antarctica%2C%0D+for ming+a+feature+commonly+referred+to+as+Blood+Falls .+The+iron+originates+from+ancient%0D+subglacial+b rine+that+episodically+discharges+to+the+surface.+ Credit%3A+Benjamin+Urmston&title=), a curious blood-red waterfall-like feature that sporadically flows from the edge of Taylor Glacier.
Analyses revealed that the glacier water held microorganisms that use sulfur compounds to extract iron in the bedrock below the glacier (this iron also accounts for the rusty hue of the water).
"When I started running the chemical analysis on [the samples], there was no oxygen. That was when this got really interesting, it was a real 'eureka' moment," said researcher Jill Mikucki, who conducted the research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, while a graduate student at Montana State University and a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University. She currently works at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
"It's a bit like finding a forest that nobody has seen for 1.5 million years," said study team member Ann Pearson of Harvard. "Intriguingly, the species living there are similar to contemporary organisms, and yet quite different - a result, no doubt, of having lived in such an inhospitable environment for so long."
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090416/capt.943cffc0168343bcbcc5ea84042dff76.blood_falls_ bacteria_wx109.jpg?x=213&y=160&xc=1&yc=1&wc=409&hc=307&q=85&sig=gPRhkbtUNv0nqK1jPR7CXw-- (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Taylor-Glacier/photo//090416/481/943cffc0168343bcbcc5ea84042dff76//s:/livescience/20090416/sc_livescience/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d;_ylt=AnHeUu_yk7HuLarJY4NVcbWzvtEF;_ylu=X3oDMTE5c nVkNWY4BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9yX3RvcF9waG90bwRzbGsDdGh pc3VuZGF0ZWRo)AP – This undated handout photo provided by the journal Science shows Iron oxides stain the snout of the Taylor …
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090416/sc_livescience/15millionyearoldantarcticmicrobecommunitydiscovere d