<< Prev

Next >>

Meredith Knauf, Mark Williams, Nel Caine, Rose Cory, and Fengjing Liu discovered surprising evidence of microbial activity in a rock glacier high above tree line in the Rocky Mountains, a barren environment previously thought to be devoid of life. Rock glaciers are large masses of rock debris interspersed with ice in the high mountains of temperate areas. Moving at speeds of just inches or a few feet a year, they require an extremely cold environment, large amounts of rock debris and enough of a slope to allow them to slide. The evidence included traces of dissolved organic material and high levels of nitrates in an intermittent stream draining from a rock glacier in the Green Lakes Valley watershed, Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research site. The high nitrate levels are believed to be a result of microbes metabolizing nitrogen within the glacier. The research team's surprising result showed that rock glaciers are not biological deserts as had been previously thought. The microbial "signature" discovered by the team is similar to that found recently in semi-frozen lakes in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Following the discovery in the Green Lakes Valley, the CU-Boulder research team uncovered evidence of microbial life in rock glaciers in southern Colorado and in Wyoming.

News Source: CU-Boulder News Center

Websites: Science Daily

ENVS Faculty: Mark Williams

ENVS News Category: Research Update

Want to automatically follow our news and events without having to visit the ENVS website with your browser? Just subscribe to one of our news and calendar feeds.

What is an RSS news feed?

About:

- Faculty Focus -

Alan Townsend

Carbon & nitrogen dynamics at regional-global scales; phosphorus controls over C & N in moist tropical systems; nutrient controls over soil carbon storage; human health effects of a changing N cycle

- Featured Image -

Filtering Boulder Creek water