Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet
We used a deep-ultraviolet fluorescence mapping spectrometer, coupled to a drill system, to scan from the surface to 105 m depth into the Greenland ice sheet. The scan included firn and glacial ice and demonstrated that the instrument is able to determine small (mm) and large (cm) scale regions of o...
Published in: | Astrobiology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/16666 |
id |
ftmontanastateu:oai:scholarworks.montana.edu:1/16666 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmontanastateu:oai:scholarworks.montana.edu:1/16666 2023-05-15T16:27:59+02:00 Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet Malaska, Michael J. Bhartia, Rohit Manatt, Kenneth S. Priscu, John C. Abbey, William J. Mellerowicz, Boleslaw Palmowski, Joseph Paulsen, Gale L. Zacny, Kris Eshelman, Evan J. D'Andrilli, Juliana 2020 application/pdf https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/16666 en_US eng Malaska, Michael J., Rohit Bhartia, Kenneth S. Manatt, John C. Priscu, William J. Abbey, Boleslaw Mellerowicz, Joseph Palmowski, et al. “Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet.” Astrobiology 20, no. 10 (October 1, 2020): 1185–1211. doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2241 1531-1074 https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/16666 © 2020 This final published version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Article 2020 ftmontanastateu https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2241 2022-06-06T07:27:30Z We used a deep-ultraviolet fluorescence mapping spectrometer, coupled to a drill system, to scan from the surface to 105 m depth into the Greenland ice sheet. The scan included firn and glacial ice and demonstrated that the instrument is able to determine small (mm) and large (cm) scale regions of organic matter concentration and discriminate spectral types of organic matter at high resolution. Both a linear point cloud scanning mode and a raster mapping mode were used to detect and localize microbial and organic matter “hotspots” embedded in the ice. Our instrument revealed diverse spectral signatures. Most hotspots were <20 mm in diameter, clearly isolated from other hotspots, and distributed stochastically; there was no evidence of layering in the ice at the fine scales examined (100 μm per pixel). The spectral signatures were consistent with organic matter fluorescence from microbes, lignins, fused-ring aromatic molecules, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and biologically derived materials such as fulvic acids. In situ detection of organic matter hotspots in ice prevents loss of spatial information and signal dilution when compared with traditional bulk analysis of ice core meltwaters. Our methodology could be useful for detecting microbial and organic hotspots in terrestrial icy environments and on future missions to the Ocean Worlds of our Solar System. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland ice core Ice Sheet Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks Greenland Astrobiology 20 10 1185 1211 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftmontanastateu |
language |
English |
description |
We used a deep-ultraviolet fluorescence mapping spectrometer, coupled to a drill system, to scan from the surface to 105 m depth into the Greenland ice sheet. The scan included firn and glacial ice and demonstrated that the instrument is able to determine small (mm) and large (cm) scale regions of organic matter concentration and discriminate spectral types of organic matter at high resolution. Both a linear point cloud scanning mode and a raster mapping mode were used to detect and localize microbial and organic matter “hotspots” embedded in the ice. Our instrument revealed diverse spectral signatures. Most hotspots were <20 mm in diameter, clearly isolated from other hotspots, and distributed stochastically; there was no evidence of layering in the ice at the fine scales examined (100 μm per pixel). The spectral signatures were consistent with organic matter fluorescence from microbes, lignins, fused-ring aromatic molecules, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and biologically derived materials such as fulvic acids. In situ detection of organic matter hotspots in ice prevents loss of spatial information and signal dilution when compared with traditional bulk analysis of ice core meltwaters. Our methodology could be useful for detecting microbial and organic hotspots in terrestrial icy environments and on future missions to the Ocean Worlds of our Solar System. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Malaska, Michael J. Bhartia, Rohit Manatt, Kenneth S. Priscu, John C. Abbey, William J. Mellerowicz, Boleslaw Palmowski, Joseph Paulsen, Gale L. Zacny, Kris Eshelman, Evan J. D'Andrilli, Juliana |
spellingShingle |
Malaska, Michael J. Bhartia, Rohit Manatt, Kenneth S. Priscu, John C. Abbey, William J. Mellerowicz, Boleslaw Palmowski, Joseph Paulsen, Gale L. Zacny, Kris Eshelman, Evan J. D'Andrilli, Juliana Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet |
author_facet |
Malaska, Michael J. Bhartia, Rohit Manatt, Kenneth S. Priscu, John C. Abbey, William J. Mellerowicz, Boleslaw Palmowski, Joseph Paulsen, Gale L. Zacny, Kris Eshelman, Evan J. D'Andrilli, Juliana |
author_sort |
Malaska, Michael J. |
title |
Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_short |
Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_full |
Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_fullStr |
Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet |
title_sort |
subsurface in situ detection of microbes and diverse organic matter hotspots in the greenland ice sheet |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/16666 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland ice core Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Greenland ice core Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
Malaska, Michael J., Rohit Bhartia, Kenneth S. Manatt, John C. Priscu, William J. Abbey, Boleslaw Mellerowicz, Joseph Palmowski, et al. “Subsurface In Situ Detection of Microbes and Diverse Organic Matter Hotspots in the Greenland Ice Sheet.” Astrobiology 20, no. 10 (October 1, 2020): 1185–1211. doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2241 1531-1074 https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/16666 |
op_rights |
© 2020 This final published version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2020.2241 |
container_title |
Astrobiology |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1185 |
op_container_end_page |
1211 |
_version_ |
1766017603741941760 |