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Geothermal Fumarole Subsurface Mt. Erebus, Antarctica
Citation
Herbold, CW; Lee, CK; McDonald, IR; Cary, SC; Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica; Nature Comms (2014); 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875

Access data
Archived data
Availability: Creative Commons License This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Description
The Tramway Ridge geothermal site on Mt. Erebus in Antarctica, is the most geographically isolated geothermal site on earth. This makes it an excellent system for studies of microbial speciation, biogeography, and evolution. more

The summit of Mt. Erebus features several high-elevation geothermal features that are separated from similar features at Mts. Melbourne and Rittman by 350-400 km. Warm fumarolic ground and ice towers on the flanks of Mt. Erebus passively emit steam and CO2 that are believed to have magmatic origins(Wardell et al., 2003). The lower end of Tramway Ridge, located approximately 1.5 km NW of the main crater of Erebus, at an elevation between 3350 and 3400 m, is an extensive warm fumarolic area protected by international treaty as a site of particular biological interest (ASPA 130 Management Plan). At Tramway Ridge, unique communities of photoautotrophic organisms (mosses and cyanobacterial mats) surround fumaroles that reach and maintain year round surface temperatures of 60-65°C, have a neutral to mildly alkaline pH, and are characterized by steep lateral pH and temperature gradients (Broady, 1984; Hudson et al., 1989; Soo et al., 2009).

Scope
Themes:
Biology
Keywords:
Marine/Coastal, Geothermal, Microbial community, Microbial diversity, Microbial ecology, Observation, PSE, Antarctica, Victoria Land, Ross I.

Geographical coverage
PSE, Antarctica, Victoria Land, Ross I. [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
February 2009

Parameter
Occurrence of biota

Contributors
University of Vienna; Faculty of Life Sciences; Vienna Ecology Center; Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science; Division of Microbial Ecology (DoME), moredata creator
University of Waikato; International Center for Terrestrial Antarctic Research (ICTAR), more

Related datasets
Published in:
AntOBIS: Antarctic Ocean Biodiversity Information System, more
(Partly) included in:
RAS: Register of Antarctic Species, more

Publication
Based on this dataset
Herbold, C.W. et al. (2014). Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica. Nature Comm. 5: 10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875, more

Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Research: field survey
Metadatarecord created: 2015-03-11
Information last updated: 2019-04-09
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy