@article {4843, title = {Extreme cold (-69.1{\textdegree}C) in the McMurdo Dry Valleys}, journal = {Antarctic Science}, volume = {30}, year = {2023}, month = {03/2023}, pages = {1-4}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, climate, extreme, meteorology, temperature, weather}, issn = {0954-1020}, doi = {10.1017/S0954102022000451}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/extreme-cold-691c-in-the-mcmurdo-dry-valleys/3516874750E5EF96365A26E8D49CA4EC}, author = {Peter T. Doran and Myers, Krista F. and Christopher P. McKay and David Bromwich} } @article {4395, title = {Energetic and environmental constraints on the community structure of benthic microbial mats in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology}, volume = {96}, year = {2020}, month = {02/2020}, abstract = {

Ecological communities are regulated by the flow of energy through environments. Energy flow is typically limited by access to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and oxygen concentration (O2). The microbial mats growing on the bottom of Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, have well-defined environmental gradients in PAR and (O2). We analyzed the metagenomes of layers from these microbial mats to test the extent to which access to oxygen and light controls community structure. We found variation in the diversity and relative abundances of Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryotes across three (O2) and PAR conditions: high (O2) and maximum PAR, variable (O2) with lower maximum PAR, and low (O2) and maximum PAR. We found distinct communities structured by the optimization of energy use on a millimeter-scale across these conditions. In mat layers where (O2) was saturated, PAR structured the community. In contrast, (O2) positively correlated with diversity and affected the distribution of dominant populations across the three habitats, suggesting that meter-scale diversity is structured by energy availability. Microbial communities changed across covarying gradients of PAR and (O2). The comprehensive metagenomic analysis suggests that the benthic microbial communities in Lake Fryxell are structured by energy flow across both meter- and millimeter-scales.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, energy, Lake Fryxell, microbial mat, Oxygen, Photosynthetically Active Radiation}, doi = {10.1093/femsec/fiz207}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/96/2/fiz207/5697196}, author = {Dillon, Megan L. and Ian Hawes and Jungblut, Anne D. and Mackey, Tyler J. and Eisen, Jonathan A. and Peter T. Doran and Sumner, Dawn Y.} } @article {4582, title = {Environmental control on the distribution of metabolic strategies of benthic microbial mats in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {15}, year = {2020}, month = {04/2020}, pages = {e0231053}, abstract = {

Ecological theories posit that heterogeneity in environmental conditions greatly affects community structure and function. However, the degree to which ecological theory developed using plant- and animal-dominated systems applies to microbiomes is unclear. Investigating the metabolic strategies found in microbiomes are particularly informative for testing the universality of ecological theories because microorganisms have far wider metabolic capacity than plants and animals. We used metagenomic analyses to explore the relationships between the energy and physicochemical gradients in Lake Fryxell and the metabolic capacity of its benthic microbiome. Statistical analysis of the relative abundance of metabolic marker genes and gene family diversity shows that oxygenic photosynthesis, carbon fixation, and flavin-based electron bifurcation differentiate mats growing in different environmental conditions. The pattern of gene family diversity points to the likely importance of temporal environmental heterogeneity in addition to resource gradients. Overall, we found that the environmental heterogeneity of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and oxygen concentration ([O2]) in Lake Fryxell provide the framework by which metabolic diversity and composition of the community is structured, in accordance with its phylogenetic structure. The organization of the resulting microbial ecosystems are consistent with the maximum power principle and the species sorting model.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0231053}, url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0231053}, author = {Dillon, Megan L. and Hawes, Ian and Jungblut, Anne D. and Mackey, Tyler J. and Eisen, Jonathan A. and Peter T. Doran and Sumner, Dawn Y.} } @mastersthesis {4089, title = {Evidence of subglacial brine inflow and wind-induced mixing from high resolution temperature measurements in Lake Bonney, Antarctica}, volume = {M.S.}, year = {2017}, school = {Louisiana State University}, type = {masters}, address = {Baton Rouge, LA}, abstract = {

Hypersaline brine beneath Taylor Glacier enters proglacial West Lobe Lake Bonney (WLB) subglacially as well as from Blood Falls, a surface discharge point at the Taylor Glacier terminus. The brine strongly influences the water column of WLB. Because of the extremely high salinities below the chemocline in WLB, density is determined almost entirely by salinity and temperature can be used as a passive tracer. Cold brine intrusions enter WLB at the glacier face and intrude in to the water column at the depth of neutral buoyancy, where they can be identified by anomalously cold temperatures at that depth. This study is the first to definitively identify subglacial brine intrusions in WLB, since the absence of an open water moat in the winter prevents brine entry from the surface at Blood Falls. High resolution thermistors and CTDs deployed year-round beneath the perennial ice cover demonstrate that brine intrusions can influence the thermal stratification of the water column near the glacier terminus for the majority of the year, and that the effects diminish with distance from the glacier terminus. High volumes of brine inflow alter the density stratification of the water column at the depth of the intrusion and cause turbulent mixing near the glacier terminus. High resolution measurements also reveal internal water movements associated with katabatic wind events, a novel finding that challenges long held assumptions about the stability of the WLB water column. The long term records of Blood Falls flow and of temperature anomalies in WLB indicate that brine release from the subglacial system has been a persistent feature in the region for decades, with implications for the geochemistry and biology of WLB.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, url = {https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4343}, author = {Lawrence, Jade and Peter T. Doran} } @article {1059, title = {Estimating photosynthetic activity in microbial mats in an ice-covered Antarctic lake using automated oxygen microelectode profiling and variable chlorophyll fluorescence}, journal = {Limnology and Oceanography}, volume = {59}, year = {2014}, month = {08/2014}, pages = {674-688}, chapter = {674}, abstract = { An automated oxygen microprofiler measured a positive flux of oxygen from microbial mats in ice-covered Lake Hoare, Antarctica, from noon, at a photon flux of 20 {\textmu}mol m-2 s-1, through to midnight (< 2 {\textmu}mol photons m-2 s-1). Daily average oxygen flux was 200 {\textmu}mol m-2 h-1; and, whereas it was maximal at noon, when a 10 mm broad concentration peak was observed 5 mm below the mat surface, flux correlated only weakly with irradiance. In contrast, relative electron transfer rate, estimated from variable chlorophyll fluorescence, suggested a linear relationship between photosystem activity and irradiance. This contradiction arose because of the conjunction of photosynthetic production of oxygen deep into these transparent, gelatinous mats (diel oxygen change was observed to 17 mm depth) and oxygen diffusion rates too slow to allow equilibration of oxygen concentration profiles with instantaneous production and consumption of oxygen. To confirm this, we developed a mathematical simulation of oxygen dynamics that included diffusion, photosynthesis, and respiration. The simulation further indicated that (1) net oxygen evolution is light limited is and confined to the upper few millimeters of the mat, (2) below 5{\textendash}7 mm, respiration balanced photosynthesis, (3) below 17 mm, respiration and photosynthesis approached zero, even though organic carbon and dissolved oxygen were present, and (4) photosynthesis deep into the mat was dependent on high light transmission through the gelatinous matrix. These conclusions are consistent with current understanding of mat growth dynamics and point to approaches for long-term analysis of microbial mat productivity.}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.4319/lo.2014.59.3.0674}, author = {Ian Hawes and H. Giles and Peter T. Doran} } @proceedings {1139, title = {Environmental Protection and Stewardship of Subglacial Aquatic Environments}, journal = {AGU Chapman Conference}, volume = {192}, year = {2011}, month = {03/2011}, pages = {149-157}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC}, address = {Baltimore}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Peter T. Doran and Warwick F. Vincent} } @article {1178, title = {Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change}, journal = {Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union}, volume = {90}, year = {2009}, month = {2009}, pages = {22}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1029/2009EO030002}, url = {http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2009EO030002.shtm}, author = {Peter T. Doran and Maggie K. Zimmerman} } @article {1212, title = {Entry approach into pristine ice-sealed lakes - Lake Vida, East Antarctica, a model ecosystem}, journal = {Limnology and Oceanography-Methods}, volume = {6}, year = {2008}, pages = {542-547}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {LTER}, author = {Peter T. Doran and Christian H. Fritsen and A. E. Murray and Kenig, Fabien and Christopher P. McKay and Kyne, J} } @article {1457, title = {Effects of research diving on a stratified antarctic lake}, journal = {Water Research}, year = {1999}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Kepner, R.L. and A. Kortyna and Robert A. Wharton Jr. and Peter T. Doran and Dale T. Andersen and Emily C. Roberts} } @article {1496, title = {Evidence of deep circulation in two perennially ice-covered Antarctic lakes}, journal = {Limnol. Oceanogr.}, volume = {43}, year = {1998}, pages = {625-635}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Scott W. Tyler and Peter G. Cook and Anya Z. Butt and James M. Thomas and Peter T. Doran and W. Berry Lyons} }