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. 1998 Jun 26;280(5372):2095-8.
doi: 10.1126/science.280.5372.2095.

Perennial Antarctic lake ice: an oasis for life in a polar desert

J C Priscu  1 , C H Fritsen, E E Adams, S J Giovannoni, H W Paerl, C P McKay, P T Doran, D A Gordon, B D Lanoil, J L Pinckney
Collaborators, Affiliations

Perennial Antarctic lake ice: an oasis for life in a polar desert

J C Priscu et al. Science. .

Abstract

The permanent ice covers of Antarctic lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys develop liquid water inclusions in response to solar heating of internal aeolian-derived sediments. The ice sediment particles serve as nutrient (inorganic and organic)-enriched microzones for the establishment of a physiologically and ecologically complex microbial consortium capable of contemporaneous photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and decomposition. The consortium is capable of physically and chemically establishing and modifying a relatively nutrient- and organic matter-enriched microbial "oasis" embedded in the lake ice cover.

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Comment in

  • Life at the freezing point.
    Psenner R, Sattler B. Psenner R, et al. Science. 1998 Jun 26;280(5372):2073-4. doi: 10.1126/science.280.5372.2073. Science. 1998. PMID: 9669962 No abstract available.

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