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Cyanobacterial Mats of the Meltwater Ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf (Antarctica)

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Microbial Mats

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 14))

Abstract

Cryo-ecosystems dominate cold environments such as the Antarctic and are characterised by persistent cold temperatures with freeze−thaw cycles, extreme light conditions (including ultraviolet radiation) and high variability in nutrient availability and salinity (Vincent, 2007). In Antarctica, freshwater cryo-ecosystems can be found in the form of ice-based habitats such as the meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf (Fig. 1) which contain liquid water during the summer months but completely freeze-over in the winter (Howard-Williams et al., 1990). These systems are dominated by microbial life including complex sustainable cyanobacterial-dominated microbial mat communities. Analogous cryo-ecosystems have also been discovered in the Arctic and have been considered as models for how microorganisms may have survived and evolved during major cooling and freeze-up events on early Earth (Vincent and Howard-Williams, 2000; Vincent et al., 2004a).

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (IPY-MERGE) and the Australian Research Council. We thank Dr. Warwick F. Vincent for his useful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Biologie and Centre d’Études Nordiques, Laval University, Québec City, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Anne D. Jungblut

  2. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences and Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia

    Brett A. Neilan

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Correspondence to Anne D. Jungblut .

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  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. Inst. Life Sciences, Div. Microbial and Molecular Ecology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram Campus, Jerusalem, 91 904, Israel

    Aharon Oren

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Jungblut, A.D., Neilan, B.A. (2010). Cyanobacterial Mats of the Meltwater Ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf (Antarctica). In: Seckbach, J., Oren, A. (eds) Microbial Mats. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3799-2_26

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