Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (83°020N, 74°000W) is an 40 m thick ice feature that occupies a large embayment along Canada’s northernmost coast. Sediments cover 10 % of its surface and provide a habitat for diverse microbial communities. These assemblages form an organo-sedimentary matrix (microbial mat)...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.564.5223 http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf |
id |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.564.5223 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.564.5223 2023-05-15T16:41:50+02:00 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf Derek R. Mueller Warwick F. Vincent The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.564.5223 http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.564.5223 http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf Sons Ltd text ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T12:11:54Z The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (83°020N, 74°000W) is an 40 m thick ice feature that occupies a large embayment along Canada’s northernmost coast. Sediments cover 10 % of its surface and provide a habitat for diverse microbial communities. These assemblages form an organo-sedimentary matrix (microbial mat) composed of cold-tolerant cyanobacteria and several other types of organisms. We investigated the environmental properties (temperature, irradiance, conductivity and nutrient concentration) of the microbial mat habitat and the effect of the microbial mats on the surface topography of the ice shelf. The low albedo of microbial mats relative to the surrounding snow and ice encouraged meltwater production, thereby extending the growth season to 61 days despite only 52 days with mean temperatures above 0 °C. We found large excursions in salinity near the microbial mat during freeze-up and melt, and 54 % of all ponds sampled had conductivity profiles indicating stratification. Nutrient concentrations within the microbial mats were up to two orders of magnitude higher than those found in the water column, which underscores the differences between the microbial mat microenvironment and the overall bulk properties of the cryo-ecosystem. The average ice surface ablation in the microbial mat-rich study site was 1Ð22 m year1, two times higher than values measured in areas of the ice shelf where mats were less prevalent. We demonstrate with topographic surveys that the microbial mats promote differential ablation and conclude that the cohesive microbial aggregates trap and stabilize sediment, reduce albedo, and thereby influence the surface morphology of the ice shelf. Copyright 2006 John Wiley Text Ice Shelf Ward Hunt Ice Shelf Unknown Ward Hunt Ice Shelf ENVELOPE(-73.499,-73.499,83.122,83.122) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
topic |
Sons Ltd |
spellingShingle |
Sons Ltd Derek R. Mueller Warwick F. Vincent Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
topic_facet |
Sons Ltd |
description |
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (83°020N, 74°000W) is an 40 m thick ice feature that occupies a large embayment along Canada’s northernmost coast. Sediments cover 10 % of its surface and provide a habitat for diverse microbial communities. These assemblages form an organo-sedimentary matrix (microbial mat) composed of cold-tolerant cyanobacteria and several other types of organisms. We investigated the environmental properties (temperature, irradiance, conductivity and nutrient concentration) of the microbial mat habitat and the effect of the microbial mats on the surface topography of the ice shelf. The low albedo of microbial mats relative to the surrounding snow and ice encouraged meltwater production, thereby extending the growth season to 61 days despite only 52 days with mean temperatures above 0 °C. We found large excursions in salinity near the microbial mat during freeze-up and melt, and 54 % of all ponds sampled had conductivity profiles indicating stratification. Nutrient concentrations within the microbial mats were up to two orders of magnitude higher than those found in the water column, which underscores the differences between the microbial mat microenvironment and the overall bulk properties of the cryo-ecosystem. The average ice surface ablation in the microbial mat-rich study site was 1Ð22 m year1, two times higher than values measured in areas of the ice shelf where mats were less prevalent. We demonstrate with topographic surveys that the microbial mats promote differential ablation and conclude that the cohesive microbial aggregates trap and stabilize sediment, reduce albedo, and thereby influence the surface morphology of the ice shelf. Copyright 2006 John Wiley |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Derek R. Mueller Warwick F. Vincent |
author_facet |
Derek R. Mueller Warwick F. Vincent |
author_sort |
Derek R. Mueller |
title |
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
title_short |
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
title_full |
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
title_fullStr |
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
title_full_unstemmed |
Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI:10.1002/hyp.6113 Microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
title_sort |
published online in wiley interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). doi:10.1002/hyp.6113 microbial habitat dynamics and ablation control on the ward hunt ice shelf |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.564.5223 http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-73.499,-73.499,83.122,83.122) |
geographic |
Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
genre |
Ice Shelf Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
genre_facet |
Ice Shelf Ward Hunt Ice Shelf |
op_source |
http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.564.5223 http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/warwickvincent/PDFfiles/191.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766032302513586176 |