Biogeochemical Sensing of Icy Ecosystems

Water Ice in Crater (28th July, 2005: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express)

Glacial ice, seasonal snow cover and permafrost cover > 60 % of the Earth’s land surface. These icy settings are now known to be viable habitats for microbial life. As such, they also serve as possible model habitats for Life on other icy terrestrial planets (for example, Mars and Jupiter moons). Many microbes in icy ecosystems are adapted to extreme in situ conditions and play a role in regulating key biogeochemical cycles on Earth (for example, permafrost environments are significant producers of the greenhouse gas methane).

Cryoconite hole in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica (M. Tranter, University of Bristol)

Knowledge of the survival mechanisms utilized by such microbes and their role in biogeochemical cycles is required in order to understand the evolution and persistence of life on Earth and feedbacks between climate and the Earth’s biosphere. Achieving a full understanding of these processes is currently limited by a lack of instruments that can be used for in situ, remote monitoring of icy ecosystems. Chemical and biosensors that can be used to infer Life-mediated processes or the characteristics of Life itself do not currently exist for these extreme ecosystems.

Subglacial upwelling, Finsterwalderbreen, Svalbard

The aim of this programme is to develop the first generation of chemical/biosensors for high resolution monitoring of the liquid water component of the Earth’s cryosphere.

Platform funding for this programme has been obtained from the EPSRC Challenging Engineering Programme.