Journal
NATURE GEOSCIENCE
Volume 10, Issue 8, Pages 582-+Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2992
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Funding
- National Science Foundation - Division of Polar Programs as part of the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project [0838933, 1346250, 1439774, 0838941]
- NSF-IGERT Program [0654336]
- Montana Space Grant Consortium
- NSF-Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations
- American Association of University Women
- NSF
- Ser Cymru National Research Network for Low Carbon, Energy and the Environment Grant from the Welsh Government
- Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
- Direct For Education and Human Resources
- Division Of Graduate Education [0654336] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Polar Programs [1346250] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Polar Programs [0838941, 838933] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Office of Polar Programs (OPP) [1439774] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Aquatic habitats beneath ice masses contain active microbial ecosystems capable of cycling important greenhouse gases, such as methane (CH4). A large methane reservoir is thought to exist beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but its quantity, source and ultimate fate are poorly understood. For instance, O-2 supplied by basal melting should result in conditions favourable for aerobic methane oxidation. Here we use measurements of methane concentrations and stable isotope compositions along with genomic analyses to assess the sources and cycling of methane in Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW) in West Antarctica. We show that sub-ice-sheet methane is produced through the biological reduction of CO2 using H-2. This methane pool is subsequently consumed by aerobic, bacterial methane oxidation at the SLW sediment-water interface. Bacterial oxidation consumes >99% of the methane and represents a significant methane sink, and source of biomass carbon and metabolic energy to the surficial SLW sediments. We conclude that aerobic methanotrophy may mitigate the release of methane to the atmosphere upon subglacial water drainage to ice sheet margins and during periods of deglaciation.
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