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Psychrophiles: from Biodiversity to Biotechnology pp 51–71Cite as

Bacteria in Subglacial Environments

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Glaciers exist where the annual temperature remains cold enough to allow snowfall to accumulate for an extended period of time and where conditions allow subsequent metamorphosis to ice. Glacial ice forms expansive continental ice sheets in the polar regions, (e.g., in Antarctica and Greenland), and at lower latitudes, ice fields (valley or alpine glaciers) and ice caps (if a volcano or mountain range is completely glaciated) exist globally at high altitude. Temperate glaciers comprise <4% of the glacial ice on the planet, but are important freshwater reservoirs and are often the sources for major rivers vital for irrigation, industry, and providing millions of people with drinking water. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets currently cover ~10% of the terrestrial surface (>1.5×107 km2) and contain ~75% of the freshwater on Earth (Paterson 1994). The Antarctic ice sheet alone contains ~90% of the planet's ice and, if melted, would result in a sea level rise of ~65 m (The National Snow and Ice Data Center; http://nsidc.org/).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, 202 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA

    Brent C. Christner

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, 200 Traphagen Hall, Bozeman, Montana, 59717, USA

    Mark L. Skidmore

  3. Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, Bozeman, Montana, 59717, USA

    John C. Priscu & Christine M. Foreman

  4. Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK

    Martyn Tranter

Authors
  1. Brent C. Christner
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  2. Mark L. Skidmore
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  3. John C. Priscu
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  4. Martyn Tranter
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  5. Christine M. Foreman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Rosa Margesin  & Franz Schinner  & 

  2. Laboratory of Biochemistry, University of Liège, Institute of Chemistry B6, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Jean-Claude Marx  & Charles Gerday  & 

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Christner, B.C., Skidmore, M.L., Priscu, J.C., Tranter, M., Foreman, C.M. (2008). Bacteria in Subglacial Environments. In: Margesin, R., Schinner, F., Marx, JC., Gerday, C. (eds) Psychrophiles: from Biodiversity to Biotechnology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74335-4_4

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