2005/06/29 by H. C. Tung, Tung, H. C., N. E. Bramall +4
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #Cell Behavior (q-bio.CB) #Cryospheric studies and observations #FOS: Biological sciences #Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena #Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE) #q-bio.CB #q-bio.PE
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.q-bio/0506041
14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Science
arxiv created 2005/06/29 · openalex publication_date 2005/06/29 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We report the discovery of methanogenic archaea that account for abrupt factor 10 increases in methane concentration found by E. Brook at depths of 2954 and 3036 m in the GISP2 (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2) ice core. The total microbial concentration we measured with direct cell counts tracks the excesses of methanogens that we identified by their F420 fluorescence. The highly localized (<1 m thick) layers of methanogens suggest flow induced mixing of layers of microbe laden anaerobic basal ice with glacial ice. The metabolic rate we found for microbes at 2954 and 3036 m lies roughly on the Arrhenius line for microbes imprisoned in rock, sediment, and basal ice. Equating the loss rate of methane recently discovered in the Martian atmosphere to the production rate by possible methanogens, we estimate that their Martian habitat would be at a temperature of ~0 degrees C and that the concentration, if uniformly distributed in a 100 m thick layer, would be 0.04 cell per cubic centimeter.