Elevated bacterial abundance and exopolymers in saline frost flowers and implications for atmospheric chemistry and microbial dispersal

• Main Authors: J.S. Bowman, J.W. Deming
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Arctic Data Center 2014
• Subjects: EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE HABITAT; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > ORGANIC MATTER; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SEA ICE > ICE TYPES; EARTH REMOTE SENSING INSTRUMENTS > PASSIVE REMOTE SENSING > PHOTON/OPTICAL DETECTORS > CAMERAS > CAMERAS; IN SITU/LABORATORY INSTRUMENTS > PHOTON/OPTICAL DETECTORS > MICROSCOPES; FIELD SURVEY; SHIP; STATION; 30 METERS TO 100 METERS; DAILY TO WEEKLY; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/urn:uuid:82513911-7e43-4ca7-b0c3-507db9e0b7f9

Frost flowers (FF) have been studied for their potential influence on ice-surface reflectivity and roles in atmospheric chemistry, but not as microbial habitats. We examined FF grown in a freezer laboratory from a bacteria-containing saline solution and FF formed naturally in the coastal (April) and central Arctic Ocean (September). All FF contained bacteria (up to 3.46 × 10^6 per ml in natural FF) with densities 3– 6-fold higher than in underlying ice. Bacterial abundance correlated strongly with salinity in FF (p values less than or equal to 0.001), a correlation that held for all components of the surface-ice environment (p < 0.0001, coastal samples). Concentrations of extracellular polysaccharides were also elevated in FF and brine skim relative to underlying ice (up to 74-fold higher). Here we consider implications of finding microbes and exopolymers within the chemically reactive surface-ice environment to the photolytic production of oxidants and long-range transport of potential ice-nucleating particles in the atmosphere. Citation: Bowman, J. S., and J. W. Deming (2010), Elevated bacterial abundance and exopolymers in saline frost flowers and implications for atmospheric chemistry and microbial dispersal, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L13501, doi:10.1029/ 2010GL043020.