Quantification of basal ice microbial cell delivery to the glacier margin [pre-print]
We present the first assessment of microbial cell discharge from sediment-laden glacier basal ice. At Svínafellsjökull, a temperate valley glacier in Iceland, approximately 10 17 cells a −1 are transferred through basal ice to the proglacial environment, and between 10 1 and 10 6 cells g −1 basal ic...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
Copernicus GmbH
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://oro.open.ac.uk/78701/ https://oro.open.ac.uk/78701/1/bg-2016-471.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2016-471 |
| Summary: | We present the first assessment of microbial cell discharge from sediment-laden glacier basal ice. At Svínafellsjökull, a temperate valley glacier in Iceland, approximately 10 17 cells a −1 are transferred through basal ice to the proglacial environment, and between 10 1 and 10 6 cells g −1 basal ice were cultured from our samples under laboratory conditions. We suggest that the delivery of viable cells and dead microbial matter to proglacial ecosystems could be playing a crucial role in soil formation and primary succession during deglaciation, but further quantification of cell transfer from a range of glacier contexts is required. |
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