HR: 0800h
AN: P51D-0955    [Abstracts]
TI: Distribution and Diversity of Microorganisms of Deep, Subpermafrost Brine in the Canadian Arctic
AU: * Boettig, C
EM: cboettig@princeton.edu
AF: Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Astrobiology Institute (IPTAI)Princeton University, Dept. of Geosciences, Princeton, NJ 08544 United States
AU: McGown, D
EM: cboettig@princeton.edu
AF: Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Astrobiology Institute (IPTAI)Princeton University, Dept. of Geosciences, Princeton, NJ 08544 United States
AU: Davidson, M
EM: markd@princeton.edu
AF: Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Astrobiology Institute (IPTAI)Princeton University, Dept. of Geosciences, Princeton, NJ 08544 United States
AU: Onstott, T C
EM: tullis@princeton.edu
AF: Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Astrobiology Institute (IPTAI)Princeton University, Dept. of Geosciences, Princeton, NJ 08544 United States
AU: Soffentino, B
EM: bruno@gso.uri.edu
AF: Univ. of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI 02882 United States
AU: Spivak, A
EM: spivack@gso.uri.edu
AF: Univ. of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI 02882 United States
AU: D'Hondt, S
EM: dhondt@gso.uri.edu
AF: Univ. of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, Narragansett, RI 02882 United States
AU: Miller, S
EM: smiller@bio.fsu.edu
AF: DNA Sequencing and Microarray Facility Florida State University, Dept. of Biological Science, Tallahassee, FL 32306 United States
AU: Balkwill, D
EM: david.balkwill@med.fsu.edu
AF: Florida State University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tallahassee, FL 32306 United States
AU: Pratt, L
EM: prattl@indiana.edu
AF: IPTAI Indiana University, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Bloomington, IN 47405 United States
AU: Ruskeeniemi, T
EM: Timo.Ruskeeniemi@gsf.fi
AF: Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo, Espoo, 02150 Finland
AU: Ahonen, L
EM: lasse.ahonen@gtk.fi
AF: Geological Survey of Finland, Espoo, Espoo, 02150 Finland
AU: Telling, J
EM: telling@geology.utoronto.ca
AF: IPTAI Univ. of Toronto, Dept. of Geology, Toronto, ON M5S 3B1 Canada
AU: Sherwood Lollar, B
EM: bslollar@chem.utoronto.ca
AF: IPTAI Univ. of Toronto, Dept. of Geology, Toronto, ON M5S 3B1 Canada
AU: Frape, S
EM: shaun@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca
AF: Univ. of Waterloo, Department of Earth Sciences, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
AU: Stotler, R
EM: randys@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca
AF: Univ. of Waterloo, Department of Earth Sciences, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
AB: Saline fracture water (0.3 to 3.7% TDS) trapped beneath 500 meters of frozen Archean metasediment was collected from boreholes at 880 and 1130 meters depth at Lupin Au mine. Temperatures range from 4 to 10^oC, pH from 8 to 9, Eh from -150 to -190 mV. H₂ and CH₄ gas concentration range from 20 to 600 nM and 6 to 55 mM, respectively. The cell density ranged from 400 to 10⁵ cells/ml by direct count. Significant hydrogenase activity was detected only in the borehole containing the highest cell density and lowest salinity. This activity was associated with relatively low H₂ and high CO concentrations. The microbial diversity of fracture water yielding the lowest concentration of CH₄ and the greatest ³⁴S fractionation between sulfate and sulfide (10^o/_oo) was characterized using the 16S rDNA gene. The cDNA revealed a predominance of a species that was 95-97% similar Thiohalobaccili and the presence of a species that was 96% similar to Desulfosporosinus. No archaeal PCR product was detected. The molecular, geochemical and isotopic data suggest cycling of S is occurring under suboxic conditions beneath the permafrost. He concentrations suggest that this environment has been isolated from the surface for a geologically significant time interval. The persistence of suboxic conditions in this sequestered ecosystem is either caused by a lack of electron donors relative to electron acceptors or mixing with surficial lake water through nearby taliks.
DE: 0448 Geomicrobiology
DE: 0456 Life in extreme environments
DE: 0702 Permafrost (0475)
DE: 5430 Interiors (8147)
DE: 6225 Mars
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005