<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>32</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Borges, Schuyler R.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">In situ and remote biosignatures from microbial mats in ephemeral streams of Fryxell Basin, Antarctica</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Astronomy and Planetary Science</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctica</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">astrobiology</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">pigments</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spectroscopy</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">stromatolites</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2024</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">08/2024</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/em-situ-remote-biosignatures-microbial-mats/docview/3094642420/se-2</style></url></web-urls></urls><publisher><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Northern Arizona University</style></publisher><pub-location><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Flagstaff, AZ</style></pub-location><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ph.D.</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">340</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Transient water-limited environments are understood to have hosted microbial communities early in Earth&amp;rsquo;s history, and thus, may have been important ecosystems for life in ancient fluvial systems on Mars and water-limited environments on rocky Earth-like exoplanets. Similar environmental systems exist on Earth today, acting as meaningful analogs to study the preservation and detection of life in these environments. Particularly useful analogs are the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, given their cold temperatures, aridity, elevated UV radiation exposure, and predominantly microbial ecosystem. Basins in these valleys contain ephemeral glacial meltwater streams, which contain a diversity of microbial communities that are only active when the streams are flowing ten weeks of the summer. These microbial communities were studied to examine how their in situ and remote biosignatures could inform the detection of similar life on Mars and rocky exoplanets. Specifically, these organisms were found in association with carbonate rock coatings, morphologically resembling modern and ancient stromatolites from rivers, ponds, lakes, and hot springs. Microorganisms from these communities were preserved within and influenced the formation of these coatings, becoming an additional Antarctic analog to ancient stromatolites. The presence of these carbonate coatings in an ephemeral stream suggests that processes in transient fluvial environments on Mars could have also generated coatings, which could have preserved biosignatures. We also identified pigments within these microbial communities and correlated the pigments to community composition. We determined how the reflectance spectra of these communities were influenced by their pigments, demonstrating the capability of distinguishing microbial mat community composition in visible and near-infrared spectroscopy. The results of our study indicate that pigment spectral absorptions can act as remote biosignatures which we then applied to modeling the detection of similar life on the surfaces of cold and rocky Earth-like exoplanets. The detection times of Antarctic microbial mat remote biosignatures were compared with those of anoxygenic photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic microorganisms, accounting for false positives, to determine which biosignatures were most detectable. The results from this work demonstrate the ability of the future space-based telescope, Habitable Worlds Observatory, to detect surface life on rocky Earth-like exoplanets.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">doctoral</style></work-type></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Salvatore, Mark R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Borges, Schuyler R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">John E. Barrett</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Eric R. Sokol</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lee F. Stanish</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Power, Sarah N.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Morin, Paul</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Remote characterization of photosynthetic communities in the Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley, Antarctica</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctic Science</style></secondary-title><short-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctic Science</style></short-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">ecology</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">hydrology</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">McMurdo Dry Valleys</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">microbiology</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">remote sensing</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">spectroscopy</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2020</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">03/2020</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/remote-characterization-of-photosynthetic-communities-in-the-fryxell-basin-of-taylor-valley-antarctica/8576F6BB1BCFDCA8409F5EA96CA00C6F</style></url></web-urls></urls><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;We investigate the spatial distribution, spectral properties and temporal variability of primary producers (e.g. communities of microbial mats and mosses) throughout the Fryxell basin of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, using high-resolution multispectral remote-sensing data. Our results suggest that photosynthetic communities can be readily detected throughout the Fryxell basin based on their unique near-infrared spectral signatures. Observed intra- and inter-annual variability in spectral signatures are consistent with short-term variations in mat distribution, hydration and photosynthetic activity. Spectral unmixing is also implemented in order to estimate mat abundance, with the most densely vegetated regions observed from orbit correlating spatially with some of the most productive regions of the Fryxell basin. Our work establishes remote sensing as a valuable tool in the study of these ecological communities in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and demonstrates how future scientific investigations and the management of specially protected areas could benefit from these tools and techniques.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract></record></records></xml>