USAP-DC

Intellectual Merit:
The MCM-SkyTEM project mapped resistivity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys and at Cape Barne on the Ross Island during the 2011-12 austral season using an airborne transient electromagnetic method. The SkyTEM system is mounted to a helicopter enabling a broad geophysical survey of subsurface resistivity structure over terrain that is inaccessible to traditional ground-based methods. Resistivity measurements obtained distinguish between highly resistive geologic materials such as glacier ice, bedrock and permafrost, and conductive materials such as unfrozen sediments or permafrost with liquid brine to depths of about 300 m. The PIs request funding to derive data products relevant to physical and chemical conditions in potential subsurface microbial habitats of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, similar cold regions on Earth and other planetary bodies. They will use these data products to characterize the hydrologic history of McMurdo Dry Valleys as well as the subsurface hydrologic connectivity in the region to investigate the implications for nutrient and microbial transport. The PIs will make these data products accessible to the research community.

Broader impacts:
Polar microbial habitats are of high societal and scientific interest because they represent important testing grounds for the limits of life on Earth and other planetary bodies. Project deliverables will include teaching aids for undergraduate and graduate students. Two Ph.D. students will obtain advanced research training as part of this project. The PIs and students on this project will also engage in informal public outreach opportunities by presenting at local K-12 schools and reaching out to local media outlets on stories relating to SkyTEM research.

Person	Role
Tulaczyk, Slawek	Investigator
Mikucki, Jill	Investigator

Antarctic Earth Sciences	Award # 1344349
Antarctic Integrated System Science	Award # 1344349
Antarctic Earth Sciences	Award # 1344348
Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems	Award # 1344348

USAP-1344348
USAP-1344349

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
NCBI GenBank	Marinobacter sp. BF14_3D 16S ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence	None	exist
NCBI GenBank	Marinobacter lipolyticus BF04_CF-4 genomic scaffold, whole genome shotgun sequence	None	exist
USAP-DC	2011 Time-domain ElectroMagnetics data for McMurdo Dry Valleys	None	exist

1. Microbial diversity of an Antarctic subglacial community and high‐resolution replicate sampling inform hydrological connectivity in a polar desert (doi:10.1111/1462-2920.14607)
2. Genomic and physiological characterization and description of Marinobacter gelidimuriae sp. nov., a psychrophilic, moderate halophile from Blood Falls, an antarctic subglacial brine (doi:10.1093/femsec/fiy021)
3. Foley, N., Tulaczyk, S. M., Grombacher, D., Doran, P. T., Mikucki, J., Myers, K. F., … Virginia, R. (2019). Evidence for Pathways of Concentrated Submarine Groundwater Discharge in East Antarctica from Helicopter-Borne Electrical Resistivity Measurements. Hydrology, 6(2), 54. (doi:10.3390/hydrology6020054)
4. Myers, K. F., Doran, P. T., Tulaczyk, S. M., Foley, N. T., Bording, T. S., Auken, E., … Virginia, R. A. (2020). Thermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica as evidenced by an airborne electromagnetic survey. (doi:10.5194/tc-2020-241)
5. Myers, K. F., Doran, P. T., Tulaczyk, S. M., Foley, N. T., Bording, T. S., Auken, E., … Virginia, R. A. (2021). Thermal legacy of a large paleolake in Taylor Valley, East Antarctica, as evidenced by an airborne electromagnetic survey. The Cryosphere, 15(8), 3577–3593. (doi:10.5194/tc-15-3577-2021)