Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 12:06
Forums
Ice Core Drilling in West Antarctica 2010

In the project description, it is noted that "the biology of the ice collected will also be investigated." Could you give us an idea of what biological parameters the WAIS project will investigate, and whether such research will be conducted primarily by the University of New Hampshire, or another institution?

Thanks!

-Ben

Sun, 01/02/2011 - 22:03

Anonymous

We refer to the scientists exploring life in the WAIS Divide ice core as "astrobiologists." These are people who study "deep time," all the way back to the formation of earth 4.5 billion years ago, trying to understand where, why, and how life began on earth and what possibilities there are for life on other planets. As you can imagine, studying various extremophiles on earth--from organisms that live in or near hot "black smoker" volcanic vents to bacteria living in the grain boundaries between ice crystals inside ice sheets. Also of interest is what biological matter lives within the rock and sediment beneath the ice sheets, though there is not currently any plan to drill to these sediments at WAIS Divide.I know there are folks at UC Berkeley working on this, as well as at Montana State University. These astrobiologists interact a lot and are often funded partly though NASA's Astrobiology program.
Hope that helps!
Peter Neff
Glaciology Graduate Student, University of Washington