Ancient microbes wake up after being frozen in Arctic permafrost for 40,000 years
- Scientists revived ancient microbes from a military tunnel that cuts into Alaskan permafrost, preserving organisms for 40,000 years in deep frozen soils.
- As Arctic permafrost melts, releasing stored greenhouse gases, researchers say microbial responses to thaw are a major unknown for how this affects regional ecology and climate change.
- Collecting frozen samples from the US Army Corps of Engineers' Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility, which descends more than 100 meters , researchers thawed microbes and published results in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences.
- Researchers found that revived microbes can break down organic matter and emit carbon dioxide, which matters for predicting emissions as thaw reaches deeper, ancient permafrost horizons.
- Because Arctic permafrost is already thawing, the study is timely for near-future climate projections that must account for newly active organisms and greenhouse gases.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Live Science
Signs of the TimesScientists 'reawaken' ancient microbes from permafrost — and discover they start churning out CO2 soon after
Researchers incubated permafrost samples from Alaska at different temperatures and found that microbes from the last ice age can reactivate and resume breaking down carbon.
Researchers in the US have revived microbes that have been frozen for tens of thousands of years – and warn of the consequences of deafness.
A study published on September 23 in the journal of Geophysical Research: Geoscinces draws a warning signal about the danger posed by the ancient microorganisms of permafrost. According to researchers, bacteria frozen for tens of thousands of years in the Arctic soil can [...]
“These are by no means dead samples,” says microbiologist and geochemist Tristan Caro, a doctoral student at the University of Colorado Boulder, during the study. “They are still very capable of hosting robust life that can break down organic matter and release it as carbon dioxide.” Abrupt changes in Antarctica are a reality, study shows More gases As our reliance on fossil fuels continues to warm the world, Arctic permafrost — the frozen soil,…
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