Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored InsideRobyn A. Barbato 1, Natàlia Garcia-Reyero 2, Karen Foley 1, Robert Jones 1, Zoe Courville 3, Thomas Douglas 4, Edward Perkins 2, Charles M. Reynolds 4
1Biogeochemical Sciences Branch, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research & Development Center, Hanover, NH, 2Environmental Processes Branch, Environmental Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research & Development Center, Vicksburg, MS, 3Terrestrial and Cryospheric Scienes Branch, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research & Development Center, Hanover, NH, 4Biogeochemical Sciences Branch, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research & Development Center, Fairbanks, AK
The cryosphere offers access to preserved organisms that persisted under past environmental conditions. A protocol is presented to collect and decontaminate permafrost cores of soils and ice. The absence of exogenous colonies and DNA suggest that microorganisms detected represent the material, rather than contamination from drilling or processing.
