Sandwich between the freezing cooling of the coldest continent of the earth and the warmth of its largest … [+]
Antarctica is a land of extremes. A continent where temperatures can drop below -80 ° F (-62 ° C), where ruthless winds sculp ice in wonderful formations and where the only signs of life appear to be the most difficult penguins and seals that climb the shores.
For most of its barren interior, life is a consequence – invalid white white, frozen in time. But under this frozen desert, something stunning of creations.
Deep inside Mount Erebus, the most southern active in the world volcanoA network of volcanic ice caves hides one of the most unexpected ecosystems on Earth. Here, where geothermal heat is engraved warm -up refugees under the ice, life blooms against all disputes.
Caves under Mount Erebus are a world of their own
Mount Erebus, rising 12,448 meters (3,794 meters) over Ross Island, is an abnormality in the frozen space of Antarctica.
As the most active southern volcano in the world, he opposes expectations by waiting for both a permanent lava lake and a network of underground ice caves – a paradox where fire and ice coexist.
Laves lava are rare, but MT. Erebus in Antarctica expects one of the few in the world … [+]
THESE Cave They are carved by geothermal heat, which melts the tunnels under the ice before freezing again, forming a surreal maze, always changing the hollow rooms. Inside these insulated caves, temperatures can rise to 77 ° F (25 ° C) – a stunning contrast with cold Above, where winter temperatures can drop below -100 ° F (-73 ° C).
The landscape within these caves is nothing less than the other world.
Narrow chimneys of fumarolic ice, some reaching over 30 meters (9 meters), ignite overheated volcanic gases that crystallize in strange formations after contact with Antarctic’s solid air. The cave walls shine with Hoarfrost ice strands, delicate that resemble a complex frozen work.
Ice stalactites, sculpted by repeated melting and refreshing cycles, hanging like frozen whips, some stretching several meters long. Meanwhile, sunlight filters through the thin ice over the caves in an etheric, ghost glow, turning the underground world into a bright cathedral of ice.
However, the most surprising aspect of these caves is not their beauty – it is the enigmatic life that thrives inside them, implying ecosystems other than anything else on earth.
These caves are an underground hotbed for microbial life
As the world outside these caves is frozen solid, the volcanic warmth inside has fed a flowering microbial ecosystem, unlike anything else on the continent.
Researchers have discovered a stunning variety of bacteria and fungi, many of which appear to have no close relatives elsewhere on Earth. Some DNA sequences remain completely unidentified – accepting the presence of potentially new species, uniquely adapted to this strange underground world.
What makes these microbial communities even more extraordinary is how they survive. Unlike plants or algae that rely on the sun’s rays for energy, organisms in these caves seem to keep themselves through chemosynthesis-pouring energy from chemical reactions, just like the forms of life found in deep sea hydrothermal canals.
These germs regulate carbon from volcanic gases using a process known as the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle, a biochemical pathway that is usually associated with photosynthesis, according to March 2015 study published Limits in microbiology. But instead of sunlight, these cave inhabitants rely on carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H₂) emitted by the volcanic canals of the Erebu.
In Warren Cave, one of the darkest and most isolated from caves, researchers found an ecosystem dominated by chloroflexi and acidibacteria, bacteria that seem to be using volcanic emissions as their main energy source.
Even more curious, scientists found no trace of archea, a microbial field usually found in extreme environments such as deep sea canals and the Antarctic Permafrost. This suggests that organisms in the Erebuit caves have evolved into completely unique conditions, separated from other extreme microbial habitats.
The ecosystem is so foreign, NASA is using it as a test environment
A place where life thrives in the dark, feeding volcanic gases, can sound like pure scientific fabrication. But for NASA, Mount Erebus ice caves are the closest thing we have in a foreign world right here on Earth.
Scientists believe that if life exists beyond our planet, it can be hidden in environments just like this – Deep under icy Jupiter Core of Europe or Saturn Moon Enceladus, where geothermal heat could create pockets similar to liquid water and microbial refugees.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has used the Caves of Erebuit as a test bed for robotic exploration technologies. Researchers have placed specialized map instruments, training and autonomous robots to study caves, preparing for future missions that can explore environments similar to remote moons.
Such a test included Puffer, a folding, originating from origin robot Designed to explore narrow, icy cracks. Scientists also tested an ice drilling roots equipped with chemical sensors, capable of detecting organic-technology molecules that could require a day for signs of life beyond Earth.
The parallels are undeniable. If germs can survive in the volcanic caves of the Erebuit, blooming on a chemically directed ecosystem, it strengthens the case that similar forms of life may have been drowning under the ice of Europe or Enceladus-waiting for us to find them.
A hidden world that challenges our understanding of life
Mount Erebus ice caves are more than just an anomaly of the Antarctic. They represent a microbial boundary, pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible for life on earth – and beyond.
Discovering kimolithoautotrophic germs (rock eating), surviving in an ecosystem entirely supported by volcanic gases, has forced scientists to renew where and how life can exist.
But perhaps more exciting is the possibility that the Erebuit Caves are not just an exception – they are an example of something much larger. If the earth can keep life in such an extreme environment, why not elsewhere in the universe?
Places like the caves below the Mount Erebus tell us how there are more in life than we often perceive and survival is possible in any environment. How do you feel about the boundless opportunities offered to us from the natural world? Get this science -backed quiz to see where you stay in Connection to the degree of nature.