Cave ice microbiom along a Chronosequence in Svarhamar Ice Cave, North Norway The Norwegian partner of CAVEICE, an ERANET project on cave ice Lise Øvreås(1) & Stein-Erik Lauritzen (2), Departments of Biology (1) and Earth Sciences (2), microbiology and isotope stratigraphy University of Bergen [email protected]; [email protected]
Entrances at two Levels (40m difference)
Ice mass
Figure 1. Key map, Svarthamar cave Fig 2. Close-up of ice stratigraphy Fig. 3. Outline of Svarthamar cave. Ice mass indicated
Background and project description Ice caves represent highly that ice accumulation preserved and relatively commenced after AD 1200 unexposed ice environments (Lauritzen 1996 & et al. 2005), constituting a unique archive for Fig. 5. studying the impact of climate As the entire Chrono sequence and anthropogenic pollution on is exposed inside the cave (Figs. the microorganisms living there. 2 &4) ice cores will be drilled and Still there is only scarce samples covering the entire time information about the indigenous span. The ice core will be melted ice-microbiota, and their slowly and the ice water will be vulnerability to climate change. filtered onto 0.2 µM filter to In this project we will study the collect the microbial biomass, total and active microbial which will be used for RNA and communities from ice caves of DNA extraction. The functional different climate and pollution variability of total and active- exposures in order to embedded microbiome will be understand the microbial determined by direct sequencing Fig. 4. Part of the exposed ice mass (1990) diversity and metabolisms along using illumina sequencing a Chrono sequence model technology of metagenomes and reflecting the impact of both metatranscriptome from the ice climate and environmental and be compared with other ice pollution on cave ice and glacier caves processed microbioms. In our part of this within the project. Further project we will focus on the analyses in order to gain insight Svarthamar Ice cave in Norway, into the microbial community (Figs 1& 3) which is a perennial structure and metabolism will be ice mass hosted within a karst achieved through the cave. The Svarthamar cave is a reconstruction of the microbial two-entrance, dynamic ice cave, transcriptome and genome possessing the largest cave resources of the entire microbial room in Scandinavia and is one community. These data will be of the lowest altitude ice caves in important to reveal the first Europe. Radiocarbon dating of identities and functions of the plant debris at the base of The key players in these unique and Fig. 5. Oxygen isotope stratigraphy of the lowermost 12 m of the ice mass, (Lauritzen 1996) 20m thick ice mass indicates vulnerable ecosystems due to climate change.
REFERENCES Lauritzen, S. E., Baastad, L., Bjørlien, J., Fedje, E. & Holmlund, P. 2005: The Svarthamar cave research project, Fauske, north Norway. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Speleology, Athen-Kalamos, August 2005 Paper P-12, 1-5. Lauritzen, S. E. (1996). Karst Landforms and Caves of Nordland, North Norway. Guide for Excursion 2 (Climate Change: The Karst Record, Field Trip Guide). Bergen, Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen.