Microorganisms Counts in the Arctic Sea Ice

Abstract:

Microorganisms that live in sea ice are essential to the Arctic ecosystem and their habitat is constantly changing. They survive off the salty brine that is pushed back into the ocean as more ice freezes. The diversity of such organisms is great, but largely unexplored. It is in our best interest to gain more knowledge of these organisms so that we can make educated decisions in the future to protect the arctic ecosystem. Life is found in all parts of the ice, but the highest concentration of microorganisms is predicted to be at the bottom of the ice and decrease in concentration up to the surface. To investigate this, eight ice cores were taken from two different locations approx. 300m and 400m offshore from Utqiagvik, Alaska, in early March, 2020. Individual samples were obtained at regular distances from the base of the cores; these samples were ~3cm thick slices from the cores. A Gram stain was performed to distinguish the microorganisms from their surroundings when observed under a microscope. Multiple counts of visible organisms were taken from each sample and averaged together to determine a concentration. The concentrations of each sample were then plotted based on their depth in the ice core and distance from the shore. Concentrations at varying depths of each core and the same depth on every core were then compared to assess the validity of the hypothesized distribution of microorganisms.